Dinner Theatre

Plays are the theme at our house these days!  Todd and I have been blessed with theatre after our dinner a few times this week.  All three children participated, decided on the basic play, put together creative costumes, memorized lines and actions, rehearsed, and then invited us to the performance.  The prep and rehearsals were really just as exciting as the performance with all the whispering about ideas for lines and positioning, giggles as they find the perfect costumes, and the overall change in their demeanor and language once they are in character.  And all of this was THEIR idea, with no prompting from their mother!

The first this week was "The Spider and The Fly."  This is Clara playing the role of the spider.

Here are Ruthie and Simon playing the role of the flies.  In this photo they have been caught in the spider's web.

Here are the three performers taking a bow

The performance the other night was "The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth."  This one consisted of more elaborate lines, and the highlight was the "spinning Earth." Clara changed out of her more delicate moon costume and into one of Todd's shirts just prior to the performance due to inclimate weather inside the house. Simon chose bright sun colors, and Ruthie sported blue jeans with a vine growing up the side, a green shirt with a monkey and a blue silk cape for the water of the world.

Here is Clara as "The Moon," Simon as "The Sun," and Ruthie as "The Earth" following their performance.

Currently, they are working on another one.  I cannot wait to listen to the process and experience the end result!

 "All the world is a stage, and we are merely the actors."

 --William Shakespeare

 (during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, of course!)

Simon

Simon and I and Todd are now super interested in identifying the tracks around our house since we now know that we have opposums, raccoons, and skunks.  We have seen them, of couse, at our chicken coop.  We were able to identify some skunk tracks today, really close together, with a pad and toes and the claws.  We could even make out the brush in the snow.  Simon and I followed them around our house and to the pasture.  I think we will be sad when the snow is gone and we can't see our animal tracks as easily.  He calls our house the "track house" now because he just loves it that there are always tracks to follow.

This weekend, we house-sat for friends while they were away from home.  Our job was to take care of their chickens, cow, horses, sheep, donkeys, and dogs.  Simon always did chores with Todd, sticking right with him and asking questions all the time.  He especially loved Puzzle, the new baby donkey.  I wish I had taken pictures!

For the Community Stones Into Schools Discussion, our church invited 2 men to speak about their Islam faith today.  Incredibly fascinating and inspiring to Simon and I in different ways.  When one of them mentioned that he has lived in India and Indonesia, Simon leans over to me to say "Mom, he has lived in 2 places where there are tigers...2 different tigers, Mom!"  Simon loves big cats so much, he can show anybody on the map places where big cats live, and he could even show you the country where the most cheetahs live.  He knows what their favorite meals are, when they hunt, where they live, and he really enjoys being a big cat to "fight" with his dad.  I love to find new books on big cats at the library for him.

Just some tidbits about Simon these days...

Crazy Things

Recent Crazy and Unbelievable Things at our House:

1.  Found in our living room:  a live caterpillar that Clara has now placed on my computer to crawl around. (The children have now found a home for it and are researching what we can feed it during the winter)

2.  Still sweeping up at least 10 flys per day dead under windows. 

3.  A puddle on the road!  A REAL puddle of water!

4.  2 "Green Days" in a row (see Thermometer Post).

5.  Simon asked for a haircut AND wore a different shirt.

6.  Woodchuck has ceased attacking me!  It seems he knows he was doomed.  Clara made a sign with a chicken upside down in a "killing cone" with a slash through it.  Todd took the hint, and we will try hard to keep him alive and not on our plates.

Fun day, and now I'm going outside to enjoy it further!

Country Studies...and other fun

We have really been interested in countries at our house this winter.  Our first pick was Egypt.  Clara became interested in Cleopatra when we were reading about influential women in history.  Simon is always reading about big cats, so we, therefore, are always reading about Africa.  This turned into a unit for us.  We checked out lots of books from the library on Ancient Egypt and learned all about what life was like forAncient Egyptians (their dress, make-up, etc.)  We have learned about the Nile River, and we even painted our faces to look like Ancient Egyptians one day.  We became fascinated with the pyramids and read more about Cleopatra.  We soon found ourselves moving into Africa as a whole and borrowing books from friends.  The kids became obsessed with a Geo Puzzle of Africa (I was always afraid we would lose Tunisia!) and we made a topographical map of Africa that you can see in the background of this pic of Simon.  We cut out pictures of animals from old magazines and pasted them in the appropriate regions.  The kids really know about the desert, rainforest and grassland areas of Africa now and will talk about them as we are reading about where certain big cats live. 

We are still reading African folk tales occasionally (The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton and others) but mostly, we have decided to move on to China (We meaning Clara).

China has been a lot of fun, and our study has been timely.  We were invited to a Chinese New Year-themed Birthday Party and then attended the Chinese New Year Celebration at UW-Platteville.

The Handkerchief Dance

working on calligraphy

the costumes

the dragon

There was also knot-tying, drum-making, singing, learning Chinese words and songs (Gong Xi), and traditional food.  This event was amazing! 

We have studied the Chinese Horoscope, and it is a favorite activity to discuss the meaning behind our years.  Simon, being born in the Year of the Rooster, is supposed to be a flashy dresser (our favorite).  We have also made red envelopes, the traditional Chinese New Year gift to children, checked out beautiful books on Chinese folktales from the library, and written in Chinese Calligraphy.  There are more events this winter and spring that the Confucious Institute is hosting.  I'm sure we will attend some of them, as they are always so well done.

Moving on to England...We are always sort of studying England because I am always reading a book about English history.  The kids are always interested in what I am reading, and so they have learned quite a bit simply by that route.  One evening, Clara came up with this masterpiece at the dinner table.

For those who may not know, this is Queen Elizabeth I.  The picture does not do it justice.  I knew right away who she had created by the high collar, typical of the time period.  Aluminum Foil Art History!

When we aren't studying countries (we have moved on recently to Mozart...found a great book at the library entitled "Young Mozart" that the kids are enthralled with and have begun listening to Mozart as well), we are trying to figure out how to live with a rooster who is now attacking us (me especially), knitting, designing codes, building massive living room forts, and playing on our incredibly tall mounds of snow.

Birds and Ballet

So, for my first post in well over a month, I will tell about the 2 most important "B's" in our life as a family right now. 

The first is the birdfeeder that Simon received for a Christmas present.  That birdfeeder is home to regular "songbird feed."  Soon after, we received from my grandparents another birdfeeder, that holds oiled black sunflower seeds, and a suet feeder.  The birds are now at our house!  We watch them everyday, from the time we wake up in the morning until the birds themselves go to bed at night.  We have now 11 different varieties (not counting the Kestrel that is perched high in the trees by the road at times, waiting to spot a mouse)!  We have counted into the 20's many times as we watch them at the feeders.  We watch the Blue Jays come in pairs, the Juncos and Sparrows come in families, and the Flicker come alone.  We watch the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers peck at the suet, now totally able to tell the difference between the 2 woodpeckers that look so much alike.  We watch until we can tell whether it is a male or a female we see, waiting for the glimpse of the rod spot on the nape.  We watch the Nuthatch eat upside down every time it lands on the feeder.  We wait for the House Finches  and Doves that come more often now, and we wait anxiously for the Cardinal to return.  We LOVE watching birds, and it is so fun to hear Simon holler to us that he has spotted a new bird.  It is always Simon.  He is watching all of the time.  Twas the perfect gift for him.

The other, newer, "B" is for the "Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories."  What a fabulous book!  It contains a handful of the most well-known ballet stories, and my children (and I) are enchanted!  We have learned about Russian ballets (Swan Lake being the favorite), a Polish ballet (Coppelia), and the Greek ballet that is so different from the others (Daphnis and Chloe).  The illustrations are amazing, the stories are captivating, and we are entranced.  We look up the countries where they were written, we dance to Swan Lake music, and we read them again and again, sitting on the couch for hours. 

We are loving the "B's."

Good Finds

On this fabulous Winter Solstice, I'm thinking about good finds.  Actually I've been thinking about our good finds for a while but haven't been able to post.  So, our good finds that I have been wanting to share...

1.  Free bales of straw at the local yard waste recycling spot.  Now are chickies are warm!

2.  The "Bumpy Hat" crochet pattern!  See debscrafts55.blogspot.com  I finally have figured out how to crochet with a pattern! 

3.  Embroidery Floss!  We have been doing a lot of sewing, but without embroidery floss for some reason.  This Christmas ornament project with out friends got us started with embroidery floss, and now we are embroidering like crazy.  Lots of things that I can't discuss because they are Christmas presents for folks who might be reading this.  I'll have to talk about it later.  But it has been so fun!  My most fabulous moment last week was when Clara. Ruthie, and I were all embroidering while Simon played with his cars around us.  He had actually been helping me with a project earlier. 

4.  Wooden beads, felt scraps, and leftover cardboard make for a rustic manger scene.  Clara's gymnastics teachers always receive a fabulous gift.  Clara has told me that she will make one for me too.

5.  Amanda Blake Soule's "Handmade Home" book (her 2nd book--the 1st is on my shelf and has been well-used).  I'm finally reading it.  I can't believe I've been missing out on it for this long!  We've been deep in her sewing and papier mache projects that all of my kids (and me) can do and enjoy!

6.  Simplicity Parenting --a wonderful book by Kim John Payne.  This was recommended to me by my naturopath.  His tips are most fabulous and right up my alley.  This really is a well-rounded guide for simplifying your life for families and children (tips for simplifying toys, books, adult talk, and bringing rituals into your life that make sense and reduce "clutter" in many ways).  We've already made a "book library" upstairs, keeping only a handful of books on our bookshelf at all times.  So, we're reading the same books over and over, really digging in deep (which the kids love, and I'll admit I do too because the books we choose are GOOD books).  I'm amazed at the questions and thoughts that still are brought up even after reading a book a dozen times.  The kids are really learning new words, and words from other languages, but also (and most importantly) really going deep with the characters and the story.  Next on my bookshelf is Byron Katie.

7.  YouTube haircuts!  I wish I had a picture of this...But, we've been cutting our own hair.  I should say that Todd has been cutting his own hair for a while, but I was too nervous until Ruthie cut a chunk out of her hair one day.  I decided that I might as well take the opportunity to see if I could cut "girl hair."  So I gave her a stacked bob cut that was pretty easy and so cute!  It was so fun that I decided to cut my own!  It's not bad, but most of all, it was fun and we saved probably $70 with Clara's bangs being trimmed as well.  Anything can be found on YouTube!

Those are most of our "good finds" for now.  May they be useful to all of you as well.  Happy Solstice and Merry Christmas!

A Homeschooling Day

My friends and I have begun talking about a typical day in our homeschooling life.  I detailed one out to my pals, and it was such a fun exercise that I thought I would write about one on my blog.  Yesterday is more fun to write about than today, so here is yesterday.  (Boy, the cows are mooing loudly tonight...I wonder why)

1.  Wake between 7:30-8:15.  Breakfast is oatmeal.  They eat it, although they want pancakes tomorrow.  We light the candle on the table and blow it out at the end of our meal (something we recently began, thanks to the book I just finished "Simiplicity Parenting"--more on that later).  There is some fighting over who will blow out the candle.  We have to work through that some more.  I didn't walk this morning...had trouble getting out of bed.

2.  Clara marked off the day on her calendar, noticed that today is Hannakuh (spelling...I should know how to spell that).  She told me she wanted to research Hannakuh sometime today.  There was also counting of days until Christmas. 

3.  I don't do dishes this morning after breakfast but fold laundry quickly and give the kids each their pile.  Then we read.  (Simon has already decided that he doesn't want to go to Day Camp today and maybe not until Spring.) Todd has left for work.

4.  We read "The Turnip, " (for Clara) "When the Sun Rose," (for Ruthie) and about Cheetahs (for Simon).  This took us more than an hour.  There ended up being A LOT of discussion about Cheetahs (virtually everything about them) and the moral of "The Turnip."  Clara reads a little to us out of one of her books.  Then the children go off to play their new running game, and I went outside to open up the coop and take out the compost finally.  Ruthie is wearing underpants today, and I also get her set up and ready for the day in her underpants.

5.  We have a late morning snack of vegetables made into a smiley face.  The kids are really into their running game, so I make a vegetable soup for lunch.  The kids think it is delicious, but then it is just Simon who thinks so.  They decide to have 1/2 sandwich and rice cakes with it at the end. We sing some Christmas carols together, and then I put on some Christmas music. By this time it is past 1:00.  Clara spends some time telling us the time occasionally as she is excited that she is mastering this.

6.  The kids want to look at flags on our maps and are excited to pick out the ones that they know.  Then they decide they want me to name a country and give them clues as to where the flag is.  We do this for quite a while, and they enjoy the similarities between some of the flags (UK flag is on a lot of other flags, one is all green, Japan just has a dot, etc.)

7.  I spend some time on the phone today, which is unusual.  The kids are really engaged in their play (dollhouse and that running game--their clothes are now mostly off even though it is 60 degrees in our house.)  This is a big cooking day today, so I also prepare supper at this time.  Ruthie helps me cut up vegetables.  Actually I cut today, and she puts the vegetables in the dish.  We are having salmon, beet/winter squash salad, and sweet potato fries tonight. 

8.  We decide it is time to research Hannakuh, so we find a comfy seat on the couch and look it up on the internet since we don't have a book on it today.  We read about it, discuss it and the Jewish tradition in general.  Then we find the Dreidal song and watch people singing it on YouTube.  Then we sing it ourselves for a while.  We are still doing this when friends come to the door.  No nap today for Ruthie

9.  It is now time for Gymnastics, so I take a quick shower (finally), remind the kids to get dressed, prepare a small snack, grab out play-doh and we head out the door at 3:40 for Livingston (after shutting the coop because it will be dark when we return).  We sing Christmas carols in the car.

10.  Gymnastics was fun today.  Clara was excited to be accomplishing new skills, and she just always has fun in social settings.  Simon, Ruthie, and I had fun watching, making new friends, playing foozball (again--spelling!), and playing with play-doh.  We leave at 5:20 for home.  We sing more Christmas carols in the car.

11.  We drop off Clara's buddy at her house and spend some time in their chicken coop and chatting before arriving home at about 5:45.  I throw the fish in the oven (everything else is already cooked, but I heat it up too).  Todd is working late tonight, so we eat without him.  We light the candle, and all the kids have now decided to blow it out together at the end of the meal.  This actually works, and everyone is satisfied.

12.    We decide to do what each kid wants to do now.  Simon begins making collage cards (he has a big bird, big cat, chicken theme).  While he is doing this, Clara asks me to work on a code for her to crack.  So, while I am making simple symbols to correspond with letters for a sentence I have developed, she begins making a code for me to crack (MUCH more elaborate than mine, I might add).  She cracks my code, and I crack hers.  It was about Hannakuh, and she tells me that she was the only kid who knew today's holiday at Gymnastics today.  Simon is really into his collage, and Ruthie is "making her own."  I think Ruthie played in the bath as well. 

13.  It is now 8:15, and I'm encouraging the kids to wrap up so we can move towards bedtime.  We had decided we would read before bed.  Todd is now home.  The kids are excited and show him their codes, collages, and ask him to quiz them on the flags.  He is overwhelmed but excited that everyone is so content and harmonious.  He reads to the kids after they get ready for bed.  I finally begin washing dishes.  They read until about 9:00 and then the younger 2 go to bed after willingly packing their backpacks for our Madison roadtrip tomorrow.  Clara still wants me to read to her, so I read a little to her and she reads a little to me.  She ends up going to sleep after she informs me that she picks a time on her clock in which she will fall asleep.  Then she tucks her clock into her sleeping bag with  her, reminding me to make a new code for her tomorrow.

14.  Now that it is 9:45, it is time to work on a Christmas project and talk with Todd.  We end up going to bed at 11:45 tonight, which is late for us. I am again mesmerized by how dark it is outside with the new moon as I slide into bed and can't see any light at all around me

That was our day yesterday.  There is no real typical day for us, but this was yesterday--a harmonious Wednesday which left a smile on my face as I lay my head on my pillow because not everyday goes like this.