* * * * * * * 10 Ways to Make Today Special… Holiday Style * * * * * *
1. Decorate a tree for the birds using strands of popcorn, pine cone bird feeder ornaments (roll in peanut butter or sunbutter and then bird seeds), edible seed pods from the garden, etc.
2. Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments for a scent that will fill up the house (about one part applesauce to two parts cinnamon, leave to dry overnight or bake in a slow oven). Shape into dreidels, stars, letters, trees, you name it. Hang in windows and scatter throughout the house for a lovely scented decoration. Paint with clear nail polish or shellac to make more permanent (though I’m not sure if you’ll keep the scent).
3. Put jingle bells everywhere! Sew them onto the kids’ socks, hang them on doorknobs, even put a couple on the pets […]
Original post by Alicia
Last week when we were heading home from a trip we had some leftover cake and pie. I decided to turn it into a wacky treat for the kids, so I had Daryl stop at the lake about 20 minutes before we got home.
I told the kids that we were going to have the cake and pie but there would be RULES. I looked very stern.
You cannot use any forks or spoons.
You cannot use any plates.
You must eat with your hands and you must be messy!
They liked the rules. So did I!
Alex was mostly confused. He has such a weird family, but cake tastes good.
Afterwards we washed off in the lake and looked for arrowheads and cool rocks.
Stale dessert never tasted so good.
Original post by Alicia
One of our monarchs emerged from her chrysalis this morning. (Victoria thought from the size of the markings she was a female so I’ll take her word for it!) After she’d hung for a while to let her wings dry we thought she was ready to fly free. Victoria, Alex and I took her out to let her go.
She hung around on Victoria’s hand for a while before finally flying to the swingset. Victoria thought she’d like perching on a rose better so she held her finger out and the butterfly grabbed on and went to the rose. She was having trouble hanging on so Victoria (ever the overprotective mother!) moved her to the black eyed susans, where she happily stayed until she finally flew away.
Alex was enthralled, though he quickly become more enthralled in a water puddle he found. :) Isn’t she beautiful?
Original post by Alicia
Jack has been asking for kindergarten every day this week and so I’ve made time to do something special each day. We’ve made cakes, read books, done leaf rubbings and so on.
Yesterday he said he wanted to make paper dolls. We decided to do them freehand and I asked if he’d like alien or monster paper dolls. Both, he said!
It turns out that aliens don’t wear clothes anyway, so they were pretty easy paper dolls in that sense. They became quite a family production though.
I gave Jack some lavender cardstock to make his first alien. I gave him a glass to trace for the head. He needed to make extra heads though, since aliens have three. Of course!
Then he drew the body and we cut it out.
Even the baby helped.
Okay, help might be a stretch.
Now, he said, we need to make some alien babies. Aliens have 8 babies at a […]
Original post by Alicia
Magical Mud Pies: 10 fun, free things to do outside today…
1. Cut an old sheet into large wings, have the kids color it with markers, and pin or stitch it to an old shirt. Have the kids run around as butterflies.
2. Designate a corner of the yard as theirs and let them dig it up, hose it down and joyfully play in the dirt. Set up a wading pool or hose as a clean up station before they get to the back door.
3. Pick dandelions and make crowns, jewelry or collages on the grass. Take apart the flowers to see the developing seeds inside. If you find some already seeding, try drawing a single airy seed.
4. Grab an ID book and go looking for birds, bugs, trees or whatever strikes your fancy. Keep a journal of the ones you spot and […]
Original post by Alicia
We had such a great time with Grandma and Grandpa last week that I didn’t get much of a chance to write about it. I’m always short on time so here are 10 photos to sum up some of the trip.
And 10 words…
Family History Play Shopping Helping
Bonding Nature Drama Exploring Memories
Original post by Alicia
That was the headline in the Marshall Independent last week, talking about our girl!
WALNUT GROVE - A curious 10-year-old girl helped to fill the park at Walnut Grove on Saturday to hear twin sisters Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush talk about their days as the Carrie character on the TV series “Little House on the Prairie.” …
The whole article is here (minus the photos that ran in the paper). She was also mentioned on the evening news in Wisconsin, in our local paper, in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (scroll down), on Minnesota’s WCCO evening news, North Dakota’s KXMC news and countless newspaper and TV reports as the story was picked up by the Associated Press.
When the Greenbush ladies visited last Saturday, they talked about their experiences filming “Little House on the Prairie” and answered questions from the audience. At the end, Victoria was introduced and she went up […]
Original post by Alicia
We’re still at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and we just got back from the lake. They live 2 blocks from the city park and one of the city lakes, with a sand beach and lots of fun stuff to play on.
The girls happily swam in the lake until we dragged them out for supper. I called them over at one point and pointed out that their daddy swam at this very same lake when he was a boy, hundreds of times, so long ago.
Having grown up without a solid home and family, I am always so amazed by the contstancy of home for many people. I love that Daryl can come back to the house where he grew up and that we sleep in his old bedroom. I love knowing that this is the hill that he sped down on his sled in the wintertime. I love thinking that this […]
Original post by Alicia
We’re just back from the pageant and I’m ready for bed, but Daryl reminded me that I was 2 days behind here! Oops! So here, super quick, is 10 magical moments from the past couple of days.
We found ourselves suddenly without water on Wednesday and we all walked down the street to see what was up. We found a giant hole in the street and got to watch them install a new fire hydrant. We looked at the layers of earth right under the street and the pipe that leads to the hydrant. Then when they turned on the water to flush the system later, Jack and I happily waded through the “river” it made in our street.
We met Grandma and Grandpa in Walnut Grove at the park tonight before the pageant and had a picnic of foods from the Laotian market.
Jack and I snuggled in Daddy’s chair last night […]
Original post by Alicia
For Jack’s “Mom & Me” day last week, he said he wanted to make some sculptures.
I assembled some odds and ends from the garage and yard, some tape and scissors, and paint. Then we just sat in the front yard and he started to create.
He did such a good job! I love his creativity.
We used packing tape to attach the pieces, and I helped with the taping.
All total he made 5 pieces, which were:
A fairy catcher
A bird relaxer (perch)
An ant diving board/fairy trap
A machine
A doll
He painted them at our picnic table and then added fake fur to make the doll’s hair.
Here he is with his fairy catcher!
Afterwards he put on a little show for the family and explained his artwork.
Anna ended up buying his doll, she liked it so much!
He was very proud of his creations and it was lots of fun.
Original post by Alicia
A few days ago I posted that I wanted to do some of the items from an old list of 10 ways to make the day magical. One of the items was:
Have the kids decorate the bottoms of each other’s feet with washable markers (or do it with your little ones). This can be delightfully tickly. When they’re all done, take a picture if you like and then assign them the task of running around in puddles till they’re clean. To extend the fun, mist a large piece of white paper with water and let them stomp on it and leave foot stamps of their designs.
The kids and I all headed into the backyard and decorated like mad.
It was quite a lot of fun!
It took some experimentation to find which brands of markers bled best and what method created the best stamps. By the end we had a whole printing […]
Original post by Alicia
When I am less busy and less of a deadbeat, I put out a newsletter to go along with my web site, A Magical Childhood. One of the traditions I’ve developed is to end it with 10 ways to make the day magical.
I’m swiping a list from an old newsletter and am going to try to do at least a couple.
10 Ways to Make Today Magical….
1. Go tree climbing together.
2. Have your child write up a letter about who she is, put it in a jar and bury it in the back yard.
3. Conduct an experiment together. Develop a hypothesis and a way to test it, and then carry it out and record the results. Possible experiments are setting up a taste test of different brands of snacks, comparing reaction times for adults and kids (use a stopwatch and a ruler– have the person hold […]
Original post by Alicia
Tonight was media night for the Wilder Pageant, so Daryl and the girls had to be in full costume and ready to pose for newspaper photographers and such. We did a grocery run in the afternoon and got home just in time to dash about getting everybody ready and out the door again.
My part in it went about like this….
Herd everybody in with groceries, unpack cold groceries with Victoria quickly while Anna goes potty and grabs her costume, direct Jack putting away groceries, put Daryl’s shirt in the dryer and check to see if his pants are dry enough to wear, brush Anna’s hair and help her put her pinafore on, have Victoria unbraid her hair and start brushing it, direct one kid after another to stand in the driveway and watch the sleeping baby so we can get ready without my holding him, apologize to Daryl for giving him […]
Original post by Alicia
Yesterday was Victoria’s “mom and me” day so Daryl took the other kids for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
She decided she wanted to spend it making cookies, playing Scrambled States of America, and doing a craft. We generally only get an hour so I explained we might not have time for all of that, so she chose the cookies and game.
We made oatmeal raisin cookies. We were a half cup short of the oats required, so we supplemented with ground flax seed, whole wheat germ, organic spelt flour and pulverized organic whole wheat raisin bran. She was a little worried! I explained how to hide healthy things well and assured her that you wouldn’t taste them.
They were delicious! She licked the bowl and I licked the beater, and we agreed that you sure couldn’t taste any of that sneaky healthy stuff […]
Original post by Alicia
Three random ways the kids learned in each subject the past few days….
Math
Jack was answering addition and subtraction questions for goldfish crackers in Guy and Val’s hotel room this morning.
Victoria did some math pages to earn extra computer time.
The kids’ computer is hooked up to the net now in the living room and Anna instant messaged me this morning to chat. In between chatting I kept throwing out math problems like what’s 23 + 85? I figured if we were going to be silly enough to chat from one floor away I ought to make it count for something.
Reading
Victoria has been reading a newspaper-style book about Ancient Egypt, a Dilbert cartoon book and our new book about the American Revolution.
Anna has been reading a fantasy chapter book.
Jack and I have been reading beginning reader books together. I’ve also been reading to him lots. Current favorites — The Napping […]
Original post by Alicia
Our good friends Val and Guy came down for a visit this weekend.
I’ve known Val since high school and Daryl has known Guy since college. We consider them chosen family, and our kids adore them.
As soon as they got here, they were swarmed with kids. Everybody had to hug them, tell them stories and jokes, and basically bombard them with noise and love.
Guy and Val are so great with our kids, too! They each sat and looked at several billion lapbooks, dutifully learning about giraffes, Ethiopia, carp, roses, math facts, horses and more.
Guy always gives the kids shoulder rides and piggyback rides, so there was a child pretty much perpetually on top of him. :) He also plays a lot of silly rough-housing type of games with the kids and they eat it up. Two things he’s known for are sumo wrestling and playing lion and monkey (which basically involves […]
Original post by Alicia
When we go on errands, we try to incorporate stops for the kids on the way there or the way back. Yesterday we had to go to a nearby city for groceries so we had the kids bring bathing suits and buckets for a stop at the lake on the way.
We were there for less than an hour but it was such fun! Alex loved using the shovel and pail. The girls swam and Jack made rivers and dams in the sand. Here’s some pics…
Original post by Alicia
Jack, Victoria and I were blowing bubbles in the front yard last week when the newspaper editor went by in his van. He circled the block and a minute later I noticed him parked across the street taking pictures. He spelled my name wrong but he did pretty well for just going by memory. Small towns are good for getting lots of runs in the paper!
Original post by Alicia
Lots of simple little magical moments happened today. A few were…
Daryl took all the kids except for Victoria for an hour so we could have special one-on-one time. We decided to spend it on a bike ride together and then shooting marbles in the driveway. It was really nice and we laughed a lot during the marble game. I won– 69 to 68!
Just as I was finishing supper, I heard a musical sound. I assumed Daryl was playing with a toy with the baby until I looked up and saw an ice cream truck out the window. We have never had an ice cream truck in our little town! Daryl handed me a $10 bill and I hollered for the kids to come down right away. They came thundering down the stairs without a clue what was going on and I rushed them out the door. It had stopped across […]
Original post by Alicia
I’ve been making more of an effort to spend quality time regularly with each of the kids and it’s so tricky.
Ever since Alex’s arrival a year ago, I’ve been conscious of each of the kids needing more of me. We regularly spend a lot of time together as a family — almost all of our time, as a matter of fact. We also regularly break off into smaller sets to do things one-on-one or at least two-on-one.
That said, children seem to have a deep need for regular real, focused time with parents. Or at least mine do. It can be a challenge to do enough of it with all 3 of the older kids regularly.
Today Anna played fashion photographer and I modeled for her outside. I let her choose my outfits, style my hair and do my makeup. She picked her […]
Original post by Alicia
Here’s Victoria’s answers for the best list.
Best books read: Molly Moon series
Best math game or activity: Running the lemonade stand
Best reading/spelling/grammar game or activity: Blogging and emailing (with spell check)
Best field trip: Maine
Best science experiment: The mold comparison experiment
Best science activity: Collecting different kinds of seaweed at the ocean, pouring seawater on the acorn barnacles to make them open
Best read-aloud or chapter book: Hoot
Best movie: Surf’s Up
Best educational DVD: Rough Science (reality TV challenges for scientists stranded somewhere!)
Best educational web site: Scratch, Science News for Kids
Best educational computer game: Timez Attack or Pet Vet
Best art activity: altered books & artist trading cards
Best PE activity: playing wiffle ball with the kids after Japanese class, tree climbing, HS swimming, HS ice skating
Best history book, project or activity: Playing Carrie in the Wilder Pageant, The History Fest
Best social studies/geography book, project or […]
Original post by Alicia
We had a wonderful day at a nearby state park with some homeschool friends yesterday!
We started out walking on a causeway to Loon Island (misnamed by the locals years ago when they thought the nesting cormorants were loons). Daryl dropped me and the kids off and went bird watching, since he has (as Jack puts it) “owie legs” and can’t walk far. He parked in a shady spot and bird watched, while we explored the island.
It was a beautiful day and the temperature was perfect, with a nice breeze off the lake. We passed a cool fish skeleton that Victoria had to get a picture of, too.
Once we got to the island, we stopped at the shore and looked for cool rocks and artifacts. I found a piece of an arrowhead. Mostly I chased Alex, who loved the sand and water. He ended up […]
Original post by Alicia
We had a fun day with some HS friends today and on the way home we stopped at a nearby lake. The kids all went exploring while Daryl looked for artifacts. I sat in the van with the sleeping baby and read my homeschooling association newsletter and listened to the waves.
The kids found tons of nifty rocks. Daryl found a half dozen pieces of petrified wood, two arrowheads and some nifty fossils– one of a fossilized tooth that he and the kids are going to try to ID and the other of a shell. He also found a beautiful butterscotch “flake” — a piece of rock that was worked to create an arrowhead or scraper but broke before it was finished. It’s always amazing to find artifacts like that and think about how long ago someone else spent time working on that very piece, and […]
Original post by Alicia
Jack has had an invisible family for quite some time. They’re an odd bunch. His invisible mother was in jail for a while and his invisible father drank a lot of beer. I’m not sure what it means if a child creates an imaginary dysfunctional family! In any case, we’d all sort of gotten used to hearing about his invisible parents and all the stuff they let him get away with.
It seems my baby is growing up, though! This week he got married. I didn’t even know he had an invisible girlfriend.
Yep, Jack married his invisible girlfriend in our back yard 3 days ago. Anna was the only guest. She served grass to the (presumably invisible) guests.
His new wife is named (ahem) Eggnut.
She wears a blue shirt with a pocket on the front that says “Put your special things here.”
I still can’t […]
Original post by Alicia
We spent Mother’s Day evening at Plum Creek and had a picnic. Thought I’d share some pictures.
And yes, it’s that Plum Creek. We live near Walnut Grove from the “Little House on the Prairie” fame. The book “On the Banks of Plum Creek” was based here. My kids would actually go to school in Walnut Grove if we didn’t homeschool, for part of the years anyway.
We didn’t go down to the creek this time but the kids explored Lake Laura afterwards looking for tadpoles. It’s a beautiful lake and later in the year there will be lots of tiny little tadpoles and baby frogs.
It was a really sweet way to end the day!
Original post by Alicia
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