In My Thoughts

A quilt.

Dessert.

A dress.

Prayer.

This color combo.

Seven Quick Takes

Check out Jen's place for more Quick Takes.

 

~1~

 

I don't know how, but I made it to Friday! Nothing has fallen apart, the house is still in some semblence of order, and best of all I'm all in one piece. It has definitely been a rough week and I'm still trying to figure out my new schedule as far as time management. Things that worked? Sticking with the menu plan, quick clean up at 11:30, and being ready to start circle time at 9 a.m. Things that did not? Trying to check my work email first thing in the morning, getting lunch together on the fly, and planning chores to be done after I'm done teaching at 7:30. I'm *really* not up to even putting away a load of laundry at that point. Chores have to be done before lunch or they won't be done at all.

 

~2~

 

Ender has been narrating spontaneous stories to me all week long. They all involve an animal of some kind that has no friends and goes out in search of a friend. An animal by the name of Ezra always comes along at some point, so Ezra gets quite a kick out of that. A lot of our recent conversations seem to revolve around friend-making lately and the kinds of things you have to do to make friends, so it's certainly on his mind!

 

~3~

 

I started The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory the other day and put it down after 3 chapters. It was written in a very "here's the facts of the time period" kind of way instead of the fiction it's labeled as, so I put it away. I rarely give up on books, but this was so bad I just couldn't keep reading. On to Mistress of the Revolution, which has been much better so far.

 

~4~

 

 The highlight of the week came Wednesday night, when Superman came home from work. He came home just for a bit to get a shower and grab some dinner before running off to class, so he came down to the studio to ask me if dinner was ready. I'd been teaching for 4 hours at that point, so I rather politely reminded him that I was working and would continue to work for almost 4 more hours before ending my day. The look on his face was indescribable as he realized what he'd just asked me. The poor man has had an entire summer of dinner on the table at 5:30 each night but now that I'm back to working through the dinner hour 4 nights a week that's a thing of the past.

 

Seriously though- we have to figure out a better dinner plan. Maybe Sunday afternoons will become a cooking fest to prepare for the next week.

 

~5~

We had our first "big blood" accident with Ezra this week. To be honest it's the grace of God that has kept him in one piece this long. He's been scaling furniture for over a year now, so theoretically this accident shouldn't have been as bad as it was. He was sitting on one of his little chairs at his little table. When he stood up he somehow tipped the chair back and it took him with it. He fell against the edge of the other table and cut his head just behind his ear. It bled a lot for such a tiny cut and he wore his "bam-bay" (bandaid) proudly for the rest of the day.

 

~6~

 

Ender has decided that he really likes to listen to books on tape. He's been choosing at least one every time we go to the library. At our library they come bundled with the CD or cassettes together with the book and he *loves* that it dings at the end of every page.

 

~7~

 

In the studio we're having a monthly composer to learn about. This month we're learning about Beethoven. Part of the assignment is to watch a few videos of Beethoven's music and one is of the Berlin orchestra playing Beethoven's Fifth. Check out the video- my students have already commented on how serious the conductor is and his expressions throughout.

Late Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:: The quilt is from my mother. She made it for Ezra a few months before he was born as a tummy time blanket- lots of bright colors against the white and lots of fabrics to include things that go- cars, fire engines, tractors . . . it's like she had some special intuition that this child would always be on the go.

Dice Graph

I found this idea on My Montessori Journey and changed it just a bit to suit our purposes. In the original the die was a printed die with an Easter picture on each side. Ender has been really interested in rolling dice and counting the dots lately so we went with a regular die for this activity. I made up the graph ahead of time in a Word document.

 



 

Ender rolled the die, figured out how many dots there were and colored a block in that number's column. He was really excited to see which number would win!

 



 

Number 4 wins!!!

 

Daybook

 

Outside my window...  our neighbor is mowing and it smells like grass and impending rain. This is the first day in a long time that we haven't been outside much of the morning. Ender hasn't been feeling well since he woke up and now I'm not feeling that great either. I'm so glad we've been able to have the windows open for almost a week now!

 

I am thinking... about reading and writing with Ender. Actually, that's what I've been spending most of my weekend pondering. He has started to use some invented spelling instead of always asking me to spell words for him, so I think that's a giant step forward for him. I suppose I'm just having a tug of war with myself about how much or how little to do with him. I know the desire is coming from him, but I don't want to get too serious about it if he's not really up for it.

 

I am thankful for... my husband. I'm pretty sure I said that in the last daybook too, but after this past weekend I need to say it again.

 

From the learning rooms... we are taking it easy this week. This is my first week back to the full schedule in the studio which also means lots of time invested in updating the website, blogging there and doing fun things like inventory and rescheduling students who suddenly have permanent conflicts. So we're doing a bit of phonics each day, using the montessori shelves as desired, and still reading a lot of books.
 

From the kitchen... I have a TON of jalapenos from the garden, so I made a big batch of salsa to last this week and the rest are going to be chopped up and frozen for later use.
 

I am wearing... a black t-shirt and jeans. Socks too. 70 degrees is apparently too cold for me.

 

I am creating... student lesson plans for the studio. Sadly there isn't much time for crafting right now. Once I get back into things I'll start sewing on the nights that Superman is in class, but for now I'm just trying to keep up.

 

I am going... NOWHERE. We're spending our mornings at home (before I start teaching at 1) and purposely trying not to go out over the next two weeks unless we have to.


I am reading... Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors and Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer? by Ron Braund


I am hoping... to find time to do *something* relaxing this week.



I am hearing... the boys listening to Jim Cosgrove while they play.


Around the house... I took care of a lot of massive organizing projects over the last 2 weeks while I wasn't working, so the house is actually in really good shape. I'm so glad I did that over the break because it really does make me feel a lot better, even with the temporary stress going on around here.


One of my favorite things... extra sleep. I went to bed last night as soon as Ender was done- so . . . 8:30? And Ezra didn't wake until 7:00 this morning, so I'm feeling *really* good this morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . Nothing too exciting- keeping the house picked up, reading with the boys, getting to know new students this week, and trying to find a bit of time somewhere to do a bit of writing or crafting. Surely I can find 15 minutes somewhere, right?



Here is picture thought I am sharing...



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