Beyond Homemaking Daybook 6

Weather: It's pretty reasonable outside right now- around 45 or 50 I'd guess. Sunny, nice, but unusual for the end of December!

 

This Week: We're recovering from Christmas. Well, more accurately we're recovering the house from Christmas. I spent the weekend going through the boys' toys boxing up baby toys for future little ones and boxing toys to donate. We found new homes for the gifts, and their rooms are in order for now. I'm working on getting out the next size clothing for Little Bit, he's fully in 24 month clothes, but also a few 2T shirts and all 2T pajamas.

 

Current Fiction Read: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. I'm about half through now. :)

 

Current Non-Fiction Read: Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss.

 



Craftiness: The big project of the week is to finish Reed's quilt top.

 

Learning at home:  I pulled everything off the Montessori shelves yesterday and I'm going to re-set the shelves tonight after the boys go to bed. There are a few new things I'm going to put out, and some old things I'm going to present again. I also decided to go ahead and really make 2 of the shelves specifically for Little Bit, 2 shelves to share and the other shelves for Big Kid. 

 

New work: I presented odd and even numbers to Big Kid with the Numbers and Counters yesterday. I'm working on some things for Little Bit also.

Colored Pencils or Un-Montessori

I realized as I was loading these photos that the boys are still in their jammies in every picture! We've been putting off getting dressed in the mornings as long as possible this past week- it's been so cold no one wants to venture into cold (but clean) clothes. Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to show you a totally un-montessori thing one kid did, and the great realization the other had.


I don't let Ezra have any crayons unless I'm able to sit right next to him, reason being that he ate literally half of a purple crayon not long ago in less than 2 minutes. They're non-toxic, but I don't want to have to change another purple diaper. So we always have colored pencils and paper on a clipboard available to him since he really loves to scribble.







I can't leave this kid alone for even 5 seconds because he is creative in dangerous ways. I did a really quick run to the bathroom the other day, came back and he'd pulled out his styrofoam block and toothpicks. Apparently it got boring:









Yes, those are the colored pencils.


Those same pencils inspired Ender later in the morning. We've been talking a lot lately about how many sides different shapes have. He's been able to use manipulatives to make all kinds of shapes up to an octagon (hexagon is his favorite for some reason) but he has not been able to make a triangle on his own. He tries to make it like a square missing a side and then doesn't seem to understand why they don't connect. It suddenly clicked with those colored pencils for some reason. He grabbed them out of the cup and formed his first triangle completely on his own.







I did notice that he brought a fourth pencil though- maybe in case the triangle didn't work out? I don't know, but he was so proud of himself that we left his triangle on the floor for everyone to see (and of course took pictures!) until he said it was okay to put it away.

Beyond Homemaking Daybook 5

Weather: This has been a bitter December! It's so cold out that your skin seems to freeze instantly, not to mention your eyeballs, lips, nose . . .

 

This Week: I'm working most of today, we're spending Christmas Eve with my inlaws, and Christmas morning is just the four of us. Christmas afternoon will be spent with my family. The rest of the week we're just at home catching up on things and hanging out together.

 

Current Fiction Read: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. I'm about 1/3 of the way through- I've been heading to bed early instead of reading at night this week.  

 

Current Non-Fiction Read: Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss.

 



Craftiness: The kangaroo for Little Bit just isn't going to happen. I've run into a major snafu and I don't think I'll finish it in time. But I picked up a board book for him the other day that I'll add to his presents in place of the kangaroo. Maybe it will be a happy new year present. :)

 

Learning at home: I'm working on a short bone unit for Big Kid since he's very interested in bones ever since our conversation a few days ago. He had a look at some xrays my mom has and was really fascinated with them. As far as their actual work this week, all their usual materials will be available to them, but I think we'll be so busy with cooking and presents that those things will be the last thing on their minds.

 

New work: I finished collecting the spooning and pouring works to introduce over the weekend, so we'll be starting those. Also Big Kid received his moveable alphabet on Saturday and that was the first thing he asked to do on Sunday morning. I'm sure that will be his main work for the next little while.

Seven Quick Takes

Go check in with Jen to see other Quick Takes.

 

1. Today was a long day. It's technically 12:30 A.M. and I haven't been to bed yet. It started with getting up at 7 in order to get everyone dressed, fed and out of the house by 8:10 to take Superman to physical therapy for a 4 hour session today. After that was the last of the Christmas shopping (Big Kid shopping for Little Bit and Daddy), gas for the car, a trip to the library and a trip to the thrift store in hunt of a better sized pitcher for Big Kid to work on pouring. Home for a bit of play and some lunch, then back to pick up Superman, naptime/rest time for the boys while I caught up on laundry and Superman rested, then to my parents house to see family in from out of town. Home in time to bathe the boys and put them to bed then try to finish up chores, make brownies for tomorrow's very big family Christmas, and collapse. But now my mind won't shut off with the amount of stuff going through it. Hence the post. :)

 

2. I've been working in little pieces on a general plan for Big Kid for the next year. It's mostly notes to myself- We want to plant flowers out front for him to help water and care for, and we're going to try to grow just a few edible things on the back porch in pots. We have no space for a real garden, so that will have to do. I made a list of a few presentations I want to do in the next few months as he shows interest.

 

3. Big Kid announced to me today that he doesn't want to drink soy milk any more (he's intolerant of cow's milk, so he drinks mostly soy milk), only water and orange juice. I told him he should still drink soy milk to stay healthy and keep his bones strong. Then he looked really confused and asked me what a bone was. I realized we'd never really talked about that! So I held out my hand and told him to feel my fingers and wrist and arm for the hard parts.

"Those are the bones." I said.

"Can I see them?"

"You can't take bones out of your body." I said. "You would have to cut your skin open to see them and that would hurt."

"But we could just cut yours and I could look just real quick."

He's so quick to give me up in the name of science! I finally convinced him that his grandmother had several x-rays he could look at, and that made him happy. My mom has x-rays of my hands, my knee, the knees of 3 of my siblings (bad knees are a family trait apparently) and my pelvis (complete with a zipper down the middle because they said that thing they were looking for didn't matter if I kept my jeans on... weird, I know, but they figured out the problem, so I suppose it worked out okay!)

 

4. Little Bit is hard core teething again. Hopefully these last four teeth will come in all together and we can be through with the madness! Last night was fever, drool, diahrea, the whole nine yards. The only thing that seemed to help was chewing on an icy cold wet washcloth. He cried and cried all night and he was miserable all day too.

 

5. I'm only teaching in the studio 1 day a week for the next two weeks. Hooray for a break!  We've had some bad weather here that led to lessons needing to be rescheduled, so I have 2 short work days over break and the rest of the time to hang out with my boys.

 

6. I still have to wrap presents. STILL. Like as in they must be wrapped before we leave for the big gathering tomorrow morning. And there's laundry still in the dryer...

 

7. I need Superman back. We all do! This back problem of his has been terrible. He's home all the time but he can't really spend a lot of time with the boys- they basically think of their daddy as a giant climbing toy full of great sound effects and lots of hugs and tickles. Of course, Superman can't be climbed on at all right now and all the great chasing and hiding games they usually play are on the back burner. Big Kid understands that Daddy's back is hurt, but he doesn't understand why it isn't better yet. Little Bit has not a clue!

Superman isn't a sit around kind of guy, so all this laying down is really getting to him. He's read a lot, watched a lot of movies, and generally just been bored. He had a lot of time to study for his finals this term, so that was good! He started a different kind of therapy this past Wednesday. It concludes on Tuesday, and as long as he's met his goals he can return to work on Wednesday. We're hoping that his back continues to heal so he can get back on his feet.

Montessori in our Home (Part One)

I had a question asked of me the other day: "Why Montessori?" There are many many methods of education out there, but we landed on Montessori. I thought I'd write today about the why behind our choice.

 

I've been a music teacher for a long time now, and one of the things I learned early on was that there is no one method that works for everyone. I maintain a full studio of 40 students ranging in ages from 3-adult and there is no possible way for one method to meet the very unique needs of a preschooler as well as the needs of a middle school student or adult. For my music students I know exactly what needs to be taught and the methods I choose from stick with my criteria, but within that range I can account for different kinds of learners. It is more complex than aural, kinesthetic, or visual so once I've chosen a method that fits I still need to tailor the method to the individual. Montessori is our base; it is the very closest thing to our educational goals for our children, but as in the music methods I described above, not a perfect fit. I'm trying to tailor to the boys needs, adopt a bit of other methods that we think are just as important, and to follow to a certain extent where the boys might take us in their educational desires.

 

There is no one way for everyone, but I do believe that there are certain paths that suit each of us better. Big Kid is a pretty quiet boy. He would sit still to read with us at 15 months old and that is still his favorite part of our day. He was very verbal early on and is constantly trying out bigger and better words in his vocabulary. He wants to read very badly on his own- I think he believes that it's one of the most important and exciting things to do with your day. We sit and read many separate times a day, I read or study material while the boys play, Superman is in college again so we rarely see him without a text book open these days. Little Bit, on the other hand, is quite a handful at 17 months. He is constantly moving, climbing, exploring, opening, closing... you name it, he's into it! I've started really trying to teach him to sit  for a short board book- the kind that has one word per page for maybe 6 or 8 pages. I've been holding him on my lap for the length of one short book so that we can start to increase his attention span second by second. He has no verbal vocabulary yet, but he is very good at getting his point across by pointing and signing. These boys are very different already, and I knew that when I started looking into different options for their education. It is important to me to provide a structure in our home that works for all of our children without forcing anyone to conform to a lifestyle that isn't really in their personality and I feel that Montessori provides that for us.

 

There are a few things about Montessori that called out to me above other things. I also find great appeal in Charlotte Mason and Waldorf, and we will probably include elements of those methods along our journey, but Montessori really fits with me and the things I was already doing with my boys (specifically Big Kid at that point, but as Little Bit is getting to be 18 months he will really join us as well!). As I've been reading more and more about the method I find myself saying, "we already do this, this and that, Big Kid knows all of these..." and feeling like it was a natural fit with what was already working really made me feel comfortable with calling Montessori home. The more I read the more I find that this fits our whole family and that is just as important. I as the director of their education have to be able to actually follow and complete my part of the bargain- if I found something that was perfect for my children but completely clashed with my own personality that would not work for the boys either!

 

I love that work time is a structured thing; when it is time to work you must choose work to do and it is as simple as that! But also there is great flexibility- if Big Kid wants to choose the binomial cube over and over each day he can do that, or he can switch to whatever is most attractive to him that day. I personally like to know what I have to accomplish in a day but then have the flexibility to arrange those tasks however I'd like. Big Kid would like every single day to be the same as the day that came before it, so having to choose his work has been a really good skill for him to build on. For Little Bit I can already see that learning to stay with his work through completion will be a good step for him when he is able to get to that point.

 

We have a certain rhythm to our day now that we did not have before, and I dare say a bit more peace as well. The boys know what to expect next each day and in turn it has given me a better schedule and routine as well.

Beyond Homemaking Daybook 4

Weather: Let's just say I can't wait for spring.

 

This Week: This is my last work week before a nice 2 week vacation for the holidays! We'll find out later this morning from the doctor whether or not Superman can get back to work and we have piano lessons this morning too. I need to finish up Christmas gifts and of course try to get everything wrapped. I also have baking and some extra house things to do before my family's big get together on Saturday.

 

Current Fiction Read: Still on Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. It's a gigantic book.  

 

Current Non-Fiction Read: Don't laugh but I'm reading Catholicism for Dummies. Just trying to answer some of my questions and thoughts.

 



Craftiness: I finished up Little Bit's mittens last week, and I'm racing like crazy to try to get his kangaroo done in time for Christmas morning! I was also gifted some fabric from my mom the quilter so I'm thinking about what I can do with that over my holiday break. I've been thinking about these pencil/crayon pouches, and maybe something in the same vein to better organize my knitting needles.

 

Learning at home: Big Kid has narrowed his work day down to three activities. First, he dictates a list of words to me (usually about 5) and then he copies them on the white board to his little heart's content. Second, he is really mastering the pink cards. When he gets his moveable alphabet set for Christmas we'll need to move on to putting the picture in front of him and having him spell out the word. That's the part he's more interested in anyway, rather than the reading. Third, he is really enjoying painting for the first time ever.

I've been trying to entice this child to paint since he was probably 16 months old. He just hates a mess and that has kept him from being interested. He's attempted a few times, but it has always been j ust a few brush strokes and he's done. FORGET finger painting! He produced 5 papers in one sitting last week and at least 2 in all the others. I think now that he has better fine motor skills and can control the "mess" it's easier for him mentally to think about painting.

Little Bit has been plain old mischevious so some of his items have been put away for now. He wants to dump 5 different things out all over the floor 50 times a day and then ignore them. For certain items that's okay, but not for the binomial cube. We've only had the poor thing for 2 months but it has taken such a beating! He's been really busy with a sponge and spray bottle wiping the tables, and he's enjoying the place setting work I set up for him a few weeks ago.

 

New work: Nothing until after the holidays. I have a few new things I'll be getting ready for both of them- different types of pouring activities for both and some spoon and tong work for Little Bit.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Check in with Jennifer at Conversion Diary to read all the other quick takes there. Or just stay awhile and read... I always do.

 

1. I haven't baked much of anything in the last week but cookies. I only really bake cookies in December and I think I've baked too many. Is 25 dozen really too many cookies? Big Kid says no.

 

2. Check out all the awesome toddler ideas over at Chasing Cheerios! Melissa has been sharing her ideas for fun felt activities for awhile and I know both of my boys would enjoy them. So maybe I should ask Santa for a big pile of felt this year?

 

3. This morning Big Kid jumped into our bed around 6:30. (We prefer he come in our bed rather than wander the house like he's tempted to do) I woke up hearing him whisper to his daddy that he needed to go potty, so Superman helped him take care of that. When they came back Big Kid crawled under the blankets, put his freezing cold toes on my legs and snuggled up to me. He sighed and started to relax as he fell asleep. I put my arm over him and he said, "Mama, I love you so much." And just as I was about to say how much I loved him too, he said, "but your breath really really stinks." Thank you, son.

 

4. Superman has promised me time to marathon sew this weekend! I want to get Reed's quilt top finished by Sunday night so that it can get it to the quilter as soon as possible. It's been sitting around in half-pieced piles all week since last weekend's bit of sewing, and it needs to be finished.  

 

5. I am so behind on Christmas things it's ridiculous. I need to finish the quilt so that I can finish sewing the boy's things for Christmas too! We put our little humbug tree up at Thanksgiving, and we got the stockings hung just a few days ago, but that's as far as we've gotten. Nothing on the door, no extra lights or decorations. And my shopping isn't done either! I still have a sister-in-law to buy for, and we still have gifts to make for the grandparents. Someone please tell me we're not the only ones this far behind!

 

6. There is apparently a leak around one of the sliding glass doors in my studio because I have been freezing my tail off in there this week! I've already been mentally consumed by knitting lately, but now that I spent an entire week shivering I can't stop thinking about this little cardigan. I added it to my favorites list on Ravelry awhile ago, but I just can't get it out of my head! Maybe I'll start it after Christmas...

 

7. I have never been so thankful to work from home as I have been the last few weeks. Superman hurt his back at work two weeks ago and has been home since then, making several trips to physical therapy. Thankfully he's on the mend and might go back to work as early as Tuesday. But if I worked a more traditional job with a more traditional schedule we would not have been able to see so much of each other the last few weeks, and I wouldn't have been available to take him to therapy and help him with his exercises at home. This week was also his finals week for the semester and the unexpected time off certainly helped him prepare for his exams.

Flashback

Ender at 6 months old...




Ender now:

Stewardship

I read Jennifer's post on stewardship yesterday and didn't post here because the post I was working on wasn't relevant after reading her article. Head over there and read for a minute. I'll wait.

 

Seriously.... go read it.

 

I used to scrapbook a lot when my oldest son was born and I read all kinds of scrapbooking magazines. I remember a particular article about a woman who was trying to put together a scrapbook of her mother's life. Her mother had died awhile ago and she wanted to put something together for her own children to have as a keepsake of their grandmother. She was posing a question to the scrapping experts about how to create a keepsake like that when you can only find a handful of pictures of that person. That day I realized that if something happened to me, we had only a few pictures of me with my son. And since then I've given my camera to someone else to take pictures for me. I want to be the one actually in the pictures and being a part of the birthday party, rather than always the one behind the camera.

I've been feeling really stretched lately. Between the regular demands of mothering, working and being a wife, I've been trying to meet many other expectations as well , and I think that's why I've been feeling like there is just so much to do and never enough time to do it all. Jennifer's post has been on my mind since I read it and I've been sorting out in my mind the distinction between my true priorities and the things that I say yes to that threaten my priorities. I've never thought about it that way- that when I say yes to too many things I'm actually stealing from the commitments that are far more important to me, and I can't do that anymore.

 

Superman and I have a tradition of going to lunch together without the kids a few days before the beginning of the new year and sharing our wishes for the new year. One of mine is to learn to say "no" to new commitments if they take away from my priorities, and to have a good plan in place about which things need to go and which ones need to stay. I suppose I'll hang on to Superman and the boys . . .

Vacuum? Sweep?

I'm busy today with work and house stuff, but here's a great little picture for you....



It's one of those things you never even imagine having to say: "DON'T VACUUM YOUR BROTHER!"

Both of my boys absolutely love the vacuum cleaner. So I vacuum first and then let them take turns pushing and pulling the vacuum. It's a great way to wear them out before nap time!



Do you Vacuum or do you sweep? I use vacuum and sweep interchangeably, but Superman insists that  sweeping is when you use a broom or dustmop and vacuuming is called "hoovering" (even though our vacuum is not a Hoover). I know this is a blistering hot topic, but does it matter? What do you say?

Marshmallow Building

I was inspired by Angela's post a few weeks ago about building with marshmallows, so we did our own. We started out with just shapes and it was a great reinforcement for Ender about how many sides it takes to make each shape.





He built the same triangle over and over for a long time before asking me what else he could build. I suggested other shapes and he tried a few but figured out pretty quickly that he could build taller things . . .





But I didn't catch a picture of his taller building before he started eating them!

Beyond Homemaking Daybook 3

Weather: Still cold, but I'm starting to get used to it. :) We had our first little bit of snow yesterday, so that was exciting for the boys!

 

This Week: Back to our regular schedule. Superman is getting ready for finals this week so he'll be studying more than usual after work. I've been fiddling with the housekeeping schedule to try to get us through my two longer teaching days, so we're going to try out some new things this week.

 

Current Fiction Read: Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. I'm giving up on Twilight. Sorry, but I just can't get into it.

 

Current Non-Fiction Read: Montessori From the Start by Paula Polk Lillard. It has been such a great read and has explained a lot about why my toddler does what he does and what materials to provide for him to help him through these stages.

 

Craftiness: Still working on Little Bit’s knit kangaroo AND his mittens. I want to finish those tonight! I'm cutting blocks from the strips for Reed's Quilt, so that's another step forward. Hopefully I'll get those done and pieced this week, then into the home stretch on the quilt. :) 

 

Learning at home: This week we're still working with the new 3 part animal cards. Big Kid is only interested in doing 2 or 3 at a time and then puts everything away, so that's been curious. I'm also wondering why he keeps getting them back out if he only wants to work with a few of them. He really enjoys the pink cards. We've been working with 1 short vowel at a time, but I think that he's guessing by the first letter instead of really reading, so I'm going to try putting them in groups by beginning letter. I know he can read 3 letter words, but I want him to get used to working like this before moving on to more difficult things.

 

New work: Practical life for Little Bit- Setting the table, and folding napkins. We started a little bit yesterday and he's in love with the placemat I made for him.

Seven Quick Takes 1

I've recently started reading Jen over at the Conversion Diaries. I found her through Elizabeth Foss's blog, and I spent my free time over 3 days reading most of it. I've enjoyed her writing quite a bit and that's where I saw the Seven Quick Takes thing. Be sure to go check her out!

 

1. I'm still trying to figure out the "Work" thing with Big Kid. There are a few works he's had out on his shelves for several weeks that he has had a lesson on and then used maybe once. I've offered another lesson on a few of them but he's not interested.  They are all number related works, and his real interest is letters and words right now. Should I put those away and bring them out later or should I leave them out even if he doesn't touch them for months?

 

2. Big Kid has been really focused on 1 certain activity. First thing during work time he asks me to write a few words for him and then he traces them or tries to write them. I ask which words he would like to write and he tells me- usually it's his name or his brother's name, occasionally he'll ask for other people's names. The last few days it has been words from Charlotte's Web which we're reading before bed, but again only the names Charlotte and Wilbur. What is the fascination with names?

 

3. Little Bit is desperate to have the binomial cube. I know he's too young to work it correctly, but it's one of his brother's favorite works and he sees it out all the time. He is dying to get that one! I'm tempted to give him a lesson on it and see what he does since he's so fascinated. That would be a hoot. The child can't say a word but he can put together the binomial cube . . .

 

4. I've really been immersed in Montessori for months now. I've begun branching out just a little and looking toward Charlotte Mason and Waldorf. Anyone have any advice on particular sources to read? I'm specifically looking for Waldorf resources.

 

5. I'm in a creative slump. I'm having a hard time being motivated to finish up the boys handmade gifts for Christmas and I really have to get going on them!

 

6.  27 has been a bad age so far. I'm only a few months in and already not so good. I've been thinking quite a lot about changes to make. Someone once told me that 27 is an age of unrest and I'm definitely feeling it. Superman asked me the other night if I was having a 1/3 life crisis. I think maybe I am.

7. We're really enjoying Chuck. As in we've DVR'd every episode and we watch the old episodes while waiting the week for new episodes. We're both giant geeks.

Bloggy Thankfulness

I Thought I'd share a few blogs that I read regularly. These have been so helpful to me in my journey to figure out how to best educate the boys and I appreciate them so much!

In the Heart of my Home is written by Elizabeth Foss. I love her writing, her honesty in sharing about their family (how things don't always run smoothly) and her posts about religious life in their home. Doesn't hurt that her children are so adorable!

Chasing Cheerios is written by Melissa and I love all the ideas she shares! Her toddler ideas have been so incredibly helpful as I try to find things for my 16-month-old to do. She is so creative in providing a Montessori environment.

Dawn writes By Sun and Candlelight and I love her posts about nature and lesson planning. I could spend a year in her archives.

Kara over at Rockin' Granola is practically me. She has this nice mix of earthy and mainstream that is the same way we try to live. Frugal, healthy and fun. We'e also in the same stage of life with little ones (she's just a little ahead of me!) and that makes for nice companionship.

Three Plus Two is written by Angela. I look forward to her posts so much. I grew up in a large family (larger than hers even) and her posts remind me of my homeschooling experiences as an elementary kid.  

Thank you, ladies, for sharing a part of your lives with us. You have helped to shape my thoughts and opinions on educating my kids.

Beyond Homemaking Daybook 2

Weather: Cold still, but not so bitter thank goodness!

 

This Week: I'm teaching in the studio most of today and for just a few hours tomorrow. Wednesday we're having our own mini-Thanksgiving with just the four of us and putting up the Christmas tree. I'm looking forward to the tree decorating this year! Big Kid knows a lot more about what's going on this year and he'll get to really help put the tree together this year. Last year he kind of stuck a few things on the tree, but didn't really think much of it. I hope he'll find it a little more exciting this time around. I'm also curious to see what Little Bit thinks.

We're spending Thursday and Friday with family and then the weekend is all about recovery.

Current Fiction Read: Gale Force by Rachel Caine. I *love* this series and I'm glad to finally be reading this latest installment. I'm on a book-buying diet (Trying to limit it to only school related things for the kids) so I had to wait until my library got a copy of the book. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and love it so far! She creates such interesting storylines. I've temporarily given up on Twilight, but I'm hoping to devote a bit of time to getting into it over the holiday weekend.

 

Current Non-Fiction Read: Going back through sections of Basic Montessori by David Gettman for thoughts on starting my 16-month-old with Montessori.

 

Craftiness: There hasn't been much knitting this week. I made a little progress on Little Bit's knit kangaroo, but that's all. He still has no mittens, poor guy! I finished trimming the stack of muslin blocks for Reed's Quilt but haven't put them together yet. 

 

Learning at home: Little Bit is doing much better about keeping to his own shelves. I did him a disservice and basically just put his normal toys on the shelves, but I think he knew the difference and kept going to his brother's shelves because that was where the "special stuff" was. So Little Bit now has on his shelves a few puzzles, shape makers (thanks to the lovely idea over at Chasing Cheerios), jenga blocks (he loves stacking these blocks!), and a sponge activity where he has to take clothespins off of a thin sponge. I got that idea elsewhere, but cannot recall where. I also have paper on a clipboard with 1 colored pencil out for him. He really loves this, and I finally got brave enough to let him have access to it whenever he would like.

Little Bit knows how to lay a mat already- in fact, he's seen his big brother do it so many times he insists on having a mat, even if he's just playing with his regular toys. He helps me and Big Kid with chores each day and thinks it's pretty cool to wipe windows and tables.

I also have set up 1 shelf that is for both boys on it we have a block puzzle, the first color box (Big Kid still likes this work, even though he has color box 2 on his shelves that he uses well), and a few puzzles that both boys enjoy.

 

New work: 3 Part Cards featuring animals and the pink card series for Big Kid.

Beyond Homemaking Daybook

Weather: cold. Like "can hardly convince myself to get out of bed" cold. We haven't ventured outside for play in several days now because it's just too cold to even attempt it.

This Week: Regular work week for me and Superman, piano lessons for Big Kid on Friday, catching up on everything that didn't get done last week due to everyone being sick! I'm making some adjustments to our cleaning routine this week hoping that it will help ease the days that I work a bit longer.

Current Fiction Read: I just started Twilight last night. I know I'm late to the party, but I made it, right? I'm only about 10 pages in, so no word yet on how good I think it is.

Current Non-Fiction Read: Young at Art by Susan Striker. I'm really learning a lot from this book!

Craftiness: I'm currently knitting Mittens for Little Bit and woking on Christmas gifts for both boys. I'm also continuing my work on Reed's Quilt.

Learning at home: Last week we fell by the wayside with all the illness. But one of the first things asked for post-breakfast this morning was for some work to do. I've re-organized the cabinets again in an effort to keep Little Bit out of Big Kid's work, but he found away around my organization. So I'm re-thinking. He wants to do what he sees his brother doing, but it is work he's not capable of doing, so I'm having to think more about Montessori work that can be appropriate to a 16-month old but also work that he feels like is something worthy of his brother... there's a challenge for you!

Individual Muslin Blocks

I spent my fee sewing time this weekend finishing the muslin blocks for the quilt. Most of the participants signed a piece of muslin and sent it in addition to their patterned fabric. I used strips of their own fabric to frame the signed piece on two sides.

The pics below are just a small representation of the work done this weekend. This piecing was simple but time consuming. The next step is finishing piecing the remainder strips and the cutting pieces from those strips. That is this week's project!







Since taking these pics any pieces that weren't even have been trimmed down, and all the silly threads hanging out everywhere were trimmed down too. All the pieces have been pressed too. Ironing pieces is my least favorite part of sewing, but it makes the actual sewing about a million times easier, so that's worth it.

Fabric Stacks

We've been down with a nasty virus- Little Bit on Saturday night and Sunday, Big Kid on Sunday and Monday, Me on Tuesday and Wednesday and finally Superman yesterday and today. I'm praying for just 1 week of health for our family! Someone has been sick just about every day since mid-August, and we are all tired of this. Needless to say, the promised sewing of last Sunday didn't happen! I have precisely 1 lonely row of muslin and strips sewn. So, I'm stacking pieces today so that I can just sew right through as many stacks as possible during Little Bit's nap tomorrow.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Fabric stacks"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Fabric Strips"][/caption]

Finally, long awaited pictures! I've been sitting in between stacks of strips today, re-sorting to the new pattern. The pics are showing off some of our gorgeous fabrics, but not giving away quilt design. The new plan (well, the new, new, new plan) is to finish the back panel by the end of naps tomorrow. Fingers crossed, begging that no one else pukes.

This Past Week

We spent most of last week taking turns being sick. My turn was the longest- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. What a great week!

Yesterday my parents took Big Kid to a special event (very hard to describe- it was a rodeo/petting zoo/downtown experience all rolled into one) so it was just me and Little Bit for most of the day. I spent his afternoon nap working with all the cut fabric pieces for Reed's quilt, laying them one way and the other on my living room floor and ultimately deciding that the pattern I picked ahead of time doesn't work quite the way I hoped. Sarah and Wayne deserve the best I can do for them, and that just wasn't it. So there's been a bit of a change, and it's slow progress, but I'm really happy about it.

As for pictures, my camera is sick and that's why we were having all the problems. Hopefully it will come back to me from the repair shop as good as new. Pics will come, just not as soon as I thought.

No Pictures?!?

I know, I know- I promised pictures on Monday, and they're not here! I'm having some, ahem, "technical difficulties." The first little problem would be my my son-  you know the little one that thinks he's Super-Toddler? Yeah that one. He's been working overtime on climbing, destroying and generally being a boy. Time I'd planned for teaching and sewing on Tuesday was diverted into an unexpected doctor's visit after he tried to fly off the dining table. He's bruised, but okay otherwise- he hasn't slowed down, that's for sure! Yesterday involved falling off the couch, smashing his hand in a door, and making 50 gazillion trips up and down the stairs- him scrambling up as fast as he could about half way and me getting him back down. Who needs regular exercise when you have a fifteen-month-old?

The other difficulty actually is a technical one: my camera card won't speak to my computer for some reason. Superman has promised to take a look at it this evening so I can get pictures put up- or else I'll borrow my sister's camera and computer this weekend.

I've been sewing during nap time/quiet time and after the boys go to bed. It has been so nice to quilt again. The last quilt I made was for Big Kid before he was born. Since then my crafting efforts have gone other places, and making this quilt has reminded me of how much I like quilting. I think I might plan another project to take me through winter.

Today I'm working today until 7:30 then Superman and I have a date planned, so I probably won't sew today, but I'll get back to it tomorrow afternoon during naps. I've finished most of the muslin blocks, but I still have a few more to do tomorrow, then on to the strip piecing. I''ve readjusted my plan and I hope to get all the strips pieced and cut down. I really hope to get to the block piecing, because I know that once I start that part I won't want to stop and the quilt will suddenly be done. :)

Reed's Quilt: Cutting

I have most of the cutting done! This afternoon during nap time I'll finish the cutting, then start working on sewing the muslin pieces. I'm trying to get through all the muslin pieces today and tomorrow. The goal for Wednesday is to have all the strips for blocks sewn. I'm hoping to get those strip cut and set out for blocks on Thursday, then have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to put the blocks together and finish the top.  I'll post pictures of some of the muslin pieces tonight when the boys are in bed.

Reed's Quilt: Last of the Fabric

I believe this is the last of the fabrics for Reed's quilt. I'm planning to start cutting on Friday, with plans to have everything cut, muslin blocks pieced, and strips for the quilt top sewn by the end of Sunday. I'll spend next week piecing blocks. The *goal* is to have the quilt completed by Saturday October 18, bound on October 19 and to the machine quilter on October 20. I am trying to have the entire project ready to send by the end of the month.

Please note that *goal* means it is my desire to finish by that date! This should be totally doable, barring illness or poorly behaved children. :) I've tried to plan in a bit of wiggle room since my kids are known to be, well . . . kids, so that I can still send the project to Reed's mother by October 31.

Discipline: Writing

I've been keeping a personal journal again in the last few months- a real paper journal. I like writing online, but nothing beats the feel of pen against paper for me. I kept a journal for years as a kid- pretty much every single day from age 9 to 19. I got married at 19 and lost track of the habit as marriage, work and children changed my life.

I started journaling occasionally again last May, but I've been looking to try something different. Instead of saving my writing time for bigger ideas, I started writing *everything* down (schooling things, work things, etc.) and have come to be exactly where I want to be with writing for myself. I've been able to work out some of the things I would like to accomplish with the boys in the next few years, what I want "school" to look like in our home, what I want daily life itself to look like around here. I've been using the journal as a place to store my ideas and inspirations for future school things, decorating ideas, Christmas lists and the book list of what I've read so far this year. It has been more of a scrapbook- not just a book of my meanderings, but in between the musings are the things that inspire me right now, and my plans for the future and for our family.

I have always loved the thought that someday my children or granchildren would be happy to have some of my writings. I hope that is true, though I have boys and boys aren't often as sentimental as girls. I hope that it means something to them, but in the mean time it has been so tremendously helpful to me to empty my mind of all my thoughts at the end of the day.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Please visit Peggy’s to see the other Daybook entries.

For Today… Monday, September 29

Outside my Window… there are birds chirping- the first creatures noticeably awake around here.

I am thinking… that I'd really like to spend the day baking, but there are too many other things to catch up on around here.

From the learning room… Little Bit completed his first work last Friday (outside of laying a mat!) and I think he'll want to try again today. I introduced Big Kid to geometric solids and he's been choosing those almost every day ever since. I imagine he'll want to do the same today.

I am thankful for… time away with other women on Friday and Saturday. It was refreshing and the speaker was amazing.

From the kitchen… leftovers again. Monday seems to be our leftover day lately! I have a lot more time to cook on the weekends, so the beginning of the week sees us polishing off the weekend's bounty.

I am wearing… jeans and a nice shirt since I will be working later today.

I am reading… still Basic Montessori by David Gettman and The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir.

I am hoping… to get our new shelves this week. We have outgrown our current storage for the kids things, and I want to keep our montessori things separate from toy things.

I am creating… the quilt for Reed, and I’m still knitting a new sweater for myself. I finished the back piece while at the conference, and started the front.

I am hearing… blessed silence (except those birds!)

Around the house… there is much to catch up on from while I was away, mostly laundry.

One of my favorite things…is fresh sheets. Superman would have me put fresh sheets on the bed every single day we both love that so much, but I just can't keep up with that pace!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… my regular work week, a library visit, groceries, and lots of cleaning up from the active weekend!

And more fabric...

Reed's Quilt Fabric

More fabric from the last 2 days:

Reed's Quilt: More Fabric

I've received more fabric this week from all over the place! Here are the pictures:

 







And the most gorgeous fabric came from Gardenbug, Reed's Grandmother:



I'm going to try to highlight the lion and the dragonfly:





The pictures of this fabric cannot do it justice. It is some of the most gorgeous fabric I've seen in quite some time.

I've received almost all of the pieces, and I'm hoping to get started on sorting out a pattern next week once I have all the pieces.

Diligence Check-In

I've been reading quite a bit about Charlotte Mason and specifically about building habits in my children, but decided I couldn't help them to build habits when I haven't developed good habits of my own!

I posted last week about working to develop my own new habits, starting with Diligence. I listed seven specific goals that I'm working on right now, and thought I'd check in with you with how I did last week. 

1. Rising at 6 a.m. and completing my morning routine before my boys wake up. This was the hardest thing on the list. I am so not a morning person, but the 2 days that I was up by 6 went really well and I felt pretty relaxed and in control all day. Of all the goals I'm working on I think this one is the key to everything.

2. Packing a lunch for Superman. I packed for him 4 days, and at least reminded him to do it the rest of the time. Not bad!

3. Keeping on top of laundry each day instead of running several loads all in one day. I did really well on this until yesterday! Now I'm a bit behind, but I'm catching up this evening while Superman is at school.

4. Doing dishes as they come at each meal rather than having a big kitchen clean up each night. I have kept up on this one really well. This is probably the thing I'm most proud of since I hate dishes more than just about anything.

5. Keeping at my “to do” list all day long rather than congratulating myself half way through and calling it a job well done. I did alright with this goal. Most of the time I kept at things and didn't call it quits until the kids were in bed. I did not do well on the weekend with it though, so I need to keep working at this goal.

6. Drinking enough water and eating enough calories each day. Not enough water or enough calories. I have to take time to eat when the boys eat rather than using that time to do other things.

7. Going to bed by 10 with Superman. I'm bad about this one too! I tend to stay up until midnight, and then struggle to wake up with Little Bit at 6:30/6:45. I have to take care of this! I know that once I start getting up consistently at 6 a.m. I'll drop into bed earlier.

So, trying again this week!

Simple Woman's Daybook 4

Please visit Peggy's to see the other Daybook entries.

For Today... Monday, September 22

Outside my Window... quiet... it is late, and everyone is asleep.

I am thinking... about tomorrow's lesson for Big Kid.

From the learning rooms... lots of sorting activities- color, shape and size.

I am thankful for... my boys going down for bed easily tonight.

From the kitchen... leftovers today- vegetable soup and quesadillas.

I am wearing... jeans, a red t-shirt and my hair pulled up, as much as short hair can be!

I am reading... Basic Montessori by David Gettman and The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir.

I am hoping... for a chance to finish up with our seasonal wardrobe change. The boxes have been out for over a week and I've only completely finished Big Kid's clothes. I'm most of the way through Little Bit's, and I still have mine and Superman's to complete.

I am creating... the quilt for Reed, and I'm knitting a new sweater for myself.

I am hearing... a baseball game in the background.

Around the house... all is clean- I have been cleaning like crazy this week!

One of my favorite things...is planning new lessons for Big Kid.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... piano lessons tomorrow, my regular work week, sending Big Kid off for the weekend on a fishing trip with his daddy and grandpa. Little Bit is staying with my dad overnight on Friday so that I can attend a Friday/Saturday women's conference with my sisters and my mom.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... Big Kid reading to Little Bit

Hard at Work

Last week was unusually busy and I did not do as much work with Big Kid as we usually do. It was kind of a nice break though, and we got quite a bit of cleaning done around the house- hence all the towels and cleaning products in the background of some of the pics. I got the kids busy working on things, and then worked on cleaning up around here!

You'll also notice that most of these pics are of the boys doing work while in their pajamas. It was that kind of week last week. I got dressed first thing as usual, but the boys stayed in jammies until at least 10 a.m. just about every day last week.

A few pictures from the work we managed to do last week:

First up, Little Bit coloring in his high chair. Little Bit is obsessed with using Big Kid's things: his cup, his plates, his toys, his crayons... so even though I have not felt comfortable graduating Little Bit up to the wonderful fat triangular crayons that are waiting for him (since he still wants to take bites out of them!) I gave him a few of his brother's crayons to color with while I was standing right there. I usually give him colored pencils to color with, but look how serious he takes his coloring work!







I give Little Bit a regular spiral-bound notebook to color in. A single sheet of paper gets torn to bits and slides around a lot since he hasn't yet learned to keep one hand down on the paper. It frustrates him so much that he doesn't try anymore. Since giving him the notebook he has started to color with colored pencils for 5-10 minutes at a time.

The next pictures are of Big Kid and his shapes worksheets. He is really stuck on shapes right now- they are the only thing he's interested in drawing right now. I printed a page for him that includes several shapes to trace, and directions to follow. He treats it like a game. When I say to draw a red circle he hunts for the right color of crayon then finds the right shape to complete it, and he laughs every time.  





Little Bit's favorite spot- sitting on the steps by the front door, trying on everyone's shoes. He's very interested in the shoe process and he's pretty good at handling the velcro on his sandals. He's *really* fascinated with the laces on Big Kid's new shoes, and so is Big Kid! We've been talking a bit each day about shoe tying, and on the evenings when Daddy doesn't have school he sits with Big Kid and shows him over and over how to tie a shoe. I thought we'd be doing this next year, but Big Kid is determined to learn to tie his own shoes *right now*!

 



This next picture is not actual work- Big Kid announced to me one day that he would like to make something, and he asked to borrow a few things from the kitchen. I asked him what he needed, and he asked for the tongs, a pot and a big stirring spoon. I told him that was fine and after helping him find what he needed I went back to my own work. A bit later I observed him sitting on the couch using the tongs to put duplos in the pot, then he stirred the pot and took the duplos back out with the tongs. I asked what he was making, and he looked at me like I was stupid, "Mama, this is block soup." Of course it is, Honey!



In the next picture Big Kid is working on a circle collage. He made the circle first, then started gluing pieces on the circle he'd made. He only made it half-way through, but it was a really great idea that I hope he comes back to.

Reed's Quilt: Fabric

Here are the fabric pieces I've received in the last few days for Reed's Quilt- 20 envelopes in the last 3 days!







 







The blue/green larger piece of fabric is for the backing of the quilt, everything else is a quarter yard of colored fabric and a 4"x6" piece of muslin signed with the user IDs of the board members. This is going to be interesting to piece together!

Jean Skirt Reconstruction

I've been hunting for a good pair of jeans to reconstruct into a skirt- I'm apparently the last crafty person on earth to do such a thing. My excuse? I've really been waiting for the perfect pair of jeans, and I've *just* started sewing this summer.

Pics from the recon:

The jeans before cutting- they were actually capris, just below my knees, already frayed around the bottom. I loved the faded pattern and the diagonal seams across the legs. I found these at my local Good Will store for $3.



Pinning . . .



... and sewing ...



And the finished product!