Time Capsule Tuesday: Easter 2007

A few more things I wanted to share from our Pre-K Easter unit...


This was the table display I put together at the beginning of Holy Week.I used to regularly set these up at the beginning of each unit study. This past year I've been more sporadic with them, but they're something I want to do more often. The children are always excited when they come down in the morning and see the books and other things that we'll be exploring during our study.


Some of our activities included:
-estimating the number of jellybeans in the jar
-filling plastic eggs with correct numbers of jelly beans - each egg was labeled with a number.
-read Benjamin's Box each day as we opened our Resurrection eggs
-read The Parable of the Lily and used a lot of the ideas from the Homeschool Share unit for this title
-read The Tale of Three Trees (There is a brand new Homeschool Share unit and lapbook for this one.)

Thanks for looking back through these past Easter plans and pictures with me. I hope that you've found something new to read or do with your little ones this year.

Please leave a comment if you have any favorite Easter books or activities you'd like to share. I'm always looking for new things to do with my gang!

An 1896 School Day

A few weeks ago we went on a field trip that will easily make our Top 10 Favorites List. We visited a 19th century one-room schoolhouse where the kids experienced an authentic day of school straight from the year 1896. It was actually only a half day. A full day of school back then lasted eight hours!

This trip was geared toward the six to twelve year olds in our group, but you'll notice that the schoolmaster was kind enough to let our littlest ones participate in a few things.

Some highlights from our trip back in time:


The schoolmaster greets the children and goes over the school rules: 1. No talking unless called on. 2. Raise your hand and wait to be called on. 3. Stand on the right side of your desk when called on. 4. When addressing the teacher, end every sentence or question with "Sir". Once inside the schoolhouse, I was amazed at how quickly these homeschooled kids caught onto raising their hands and standing up to address their teacher. :)


The children must bow when they say their morning greeting to the schoolmaster.


The paddle was not an uncommon means of discipline in a 19th century schoolhouse.


The little ones were offered slates and slate pencils to keep them entertained, as they sat with us in the "cloakroom" at the back of the room to observe. Most of them hung in their for an hour or so before we took them outside to play.


Superman had to sit in the front row on the boys' side of the room, as he was the youngest boy. The older children sat towards the back.


Recess!


At recess the children were introduced to games of the time period. Here Superman is trying his hand at Ten Pins.


The littles were invited to participate too. Giggly Girl and Sweet Pea are trying out a ball and cup game. This was hard even for the grownups!


Rolling the hoop is another hard one, but Giggly Girl persisted until she got the hang of it quite well!


The schoolmaster shows how to make the wooden blocks fold and flip in this game of Jacob's Ladder.

Shortly after recess school was dismissed for the day, but before dismissal, the boys and girls had to bow and say their afternoon farewells to their teacher. Then they filed out of the schoolhouse, and we all sat down to a picnic lunch. After sitting still for the better part of three hours, the kids ate fast so that they could run and play!

I have to give a lot of credit to the schoolmaster. He really made the day a success. He played the role of a firm 19th century teacher well, but he did it with kindness and gentleness. He was always eager to offer encouragement and answer questions that the students and parents asked.

During the week prior to our trip, we did the Five in a Row unit for the book Three Names by Patricia Maclachlan. It's the story of a boy growing up on the prairie in the nineteenth century. Three Names is the name of his faithful dog, who goes to school with him each day in a one-room schoolhouse. The author goes into fairly detailed descriptions of what it was like in the little school, so it was the perfect book to get us in the mindset for our trip back to 1896.



I'm interested to hear about any living history field trips that you and your children have taken. After seeing how much mine enjoyed this one, I'll be on the lookout for more.

Thanks for the Encouragement!

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that two kind bloggers honored me this past week.

Thanks go to The Schoolhouse at Deer Run for this first award. I always enjoy dropping by Torie's to see what she and her precious boys are up to - including the wonderful Bible lessons they do together.



Now I get to share the encouragement with some of my favorite bloggers. (There is no way I could list all of the blogs I enjoy. There are so many that give me ideas and inspiration.)

Rose Cottage

His Wonderful Works

A Pondering Heart

Blog, She Wrote

Here are the Rules:
1. Add the award logo to your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. (That's me!;-)
3. Give the award to other blogs. (However many you choose!)
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message (in the form of a comment) for your award recipients on their blogs.

I also want to say thank you to The Tie That Binds Us for this "Excellence in Blogcasting" award. It's a treat to visit Brenda's blog to see the wonderful art and nature studies she does with her children. She is also the owner of the Homeschool History Buffs Carnival, which is not to be missed!


The rules for this one are simple. Just nominate a few blogs that you enjoy and highlight them on your blog. I receive encouragement and inspiration from so many blogs, but here are a few more of my favorites:

In the Sparrow's Nest

Handbook of Nature Study

School for Us

Our Journey Westward

Isn't homeschool bloggy land a fun and friendly place? :)

I hope that you enjoy visiting these Moms' blogs and gleaning some of their great ideas!

Time Capsule Tuesday: Hoppin' Back to 2007

We officially began homeschooling in the summer of 2006. Superman had just turned five years old, Giggly Girl was three, and Sweet Pea was one.

Since I didn't blog back then, I've decided to reminisce a bit and highlight some of the things we did in that first year of our homeschool journey, which we called Pre-K.

I will probably also use "Time Capsule Tuesday" to write about things we've done since that time, which I've not had a chance to post about - imagine that!

As I was flipping back through our old photos, I thought I'd share some springtime fun we had with a mini-unit on rabbits in one of the weeks leading up to Easter 2007.

We read all of the "bunny" books included in the Before Five in a Row Curriculum:

The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag
The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

We also read several Beatrix Potter stories featuring her famous rabbit characters:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies

Every one of these are such sweet stories. I think I'll pull them out again for my little ones tomorrow. :)

Some of our activities:



We made "edible bunnies" from pears, marshmallows, raisins, and of course, carrots and lettuce leaves.

Sweet Pea needed Mommy to make hers, but she had no trouble eating it all by herself!


We also took a field trip to the local animal shelter to visit this adorable bunny. We were able to look closely and see the rabbit features we had learned about - large feet, whiskers, eyes on the sides of her head, and large ears. We also got to feel how soft a bunny's fur really is!

We learned about different kinds of rabbits, their habitat, what they eat, the difference between a rabbit and a hare, and that rabbits are mammals.

We also used I Can Draw Animals (Usborne Playtime Series)to learn how to draw a rabbit.

This was a memorable unit for me and my sweet preschoolers.
Next week I'll share about our Holy Week activities from that same year.

Thanks for joining me on this little stroll down memory lane - hope you enjoyed it!

Something for Easter: Resurrection Eggs

Just in the last few days we've seen the first signs of spring and new life in our backyard - daffodils blooming, bushes and trees budding, and bugs darting through the air. Not only do these things herald the new season, but they also remind us that Easter is near.

Easter is my favorite holiday, and over the last few years we've collected several family traditions that have helped us to stop and reflect on Christ's ultimate sacrifice for us. I love the fact that our young children, with their fresh, uncluttered minds and hearts, are so receptive to the Resurrection message. They eagerly anticipate and join in as we celebrate God's love for us. One of their favorite activities (and one of mine too) is the telling of the Easter story through the use of Resurrection Eggs.


In case you've not heard of them, Resurrection Eggs are a set of twelve plastic eggs, each one containing an object symbolizing one of the events of Holy Week. There are Scriptures that go along with each egg to tell the story of that particular symbol. I purchased a set from Family Life Ministries years ago, and a preschool teacher made a set for my oldest when he was four. The children love touching and handling the different objects so much that I think I'm going to make a set for each of the girls this year. I thought I would post a list of items along with the appropriate Scriptures for those of you who might be interested in making a set of your own.

Here's what you need:
-one dozen plastic, colored Easter eggs (12 different colors)
-one empty, clean egg carton
-markers and stickers if your children would like to decorate their carton
-a copy of the Scriptures and what each symbol stands for (You can download one here.)

Egg *1
Item: piece of palm branch (You can cut one from foam or cardstock.)
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
Message: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.

Egg #2:
Item: 3 dimes or plastic “silver” money
Scripture: Matthew 27:3
Message: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Egg #3:
Item: small communion cup; or use clay to form a small bread-like shape
Scripture: Matthew 26:17-19
Message: Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples.

Egg #4:
Item: Praying Hands (can be cut from foam or cardstock)
Scripture: Mark 14:32-42
Message: Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane

Egg #5:
Item: Leather strip (small piece of leather shoelace)
Scripture: John 19:1-15
Message: Jesus is beaten with a whip.

Egg #6:
Item: toothpicks or Popsicle stick cut and glued in a cross form; or a small plastic cross from a Christmas ornament, necklace, or keychain
Scripture: John 19:16-22
Message: Jesus carried His own cross and was crucified on it.

Egg #7:
Item: one die (or a piece of burlap)
Scripture: John 19:23-25
Message: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.

Egg #8:
Item: a small piece of sponge
Scripture: John 19:28-30
Message: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.

Egg #9:
Item: piece of linen (You can use gauze.)
Scripture: Matthew 27:57-61
Message: Jesus' body was wrapped in a clean linen cloth and buried in the tomb.

Egg #10:
Item: a small rock
Scripture: Matthew 28:1-2
Message: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away.

Egg #11:
Item: empty egg
Scripture: Matthew 28:5-8
Message: The tomb was empty. Jesus is risen!

Egg #12:
Item: piece of batting or a cotton ball
Scripture: Luke 24:51-53
Message: Jesus ascends into Heaven.

Here are some optional items/Scriptures you can use to replace any objects that you don't have on hand:

Item: spear (a small lego or other toy spear, or you could make one by gluing a cardstock spearhead to a toothpick)
Passage: John 19:33-34
Message: The soldier pierced Jesus' side with a spear.

Item: 7 or 8 whole cloves, or other whole spices
Passage: John 19:38-40
Message: Spices to prepare Jesus for burial.

Item: thorn
Passage: Mark 15:16-18
Message: The soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.

I started using the Resurrection Eggs with our oldest when he was four years old, and the objects captured his attention so that he would sit long enough to do two or three of the eggs each day. Even at that young age he grasped quite a bit of the symbolism, and asked to hear the story of the eggs each day leading up to Easter.


That same year I also purchased a video from Family Life Ministries called Miss Pattycake's Eggstravaganza. It was produced to go along with the Resurrection Eggs and is filled with lively songs and Miss Pattycake's presentation of each of the eggs and their story. This is a truly delightful video that does an excellent job of introducing young children to the story of Easter.


Each year, the symbols and the Scriptures have become more and more meaningful to my oldest and now to his younger sisters. The objects inside the eggs really help children make connections with the Scriptural truths and cement them in their memory. Last year I purchased the book Benjamin's Box by Melody Carlson, which tells the story of a young boy in Jerusalem who witnesses the events of Jesus' life in the days leading up to and including his crucifixion and resurrection. The story is written to go along with the Resurrection Eggs and is a beautiful way to enhance them. My children love the book as much as they do the eggs.

There are several ways to present the eggs to your children. You can do one or two of them a day beginning on Palm Sunday and ending on Saturday, and then do all twelve in one sitting on Resurrection Sunday. We did this last year when we read Benjamin's Box.

You could hide all of the eggs, let your children find them, and then tell the story of all twelve eggs in one sitting, if your children's attention spans allow. You could also have them take turns telling the story of the different eggs after they've heard it a few times.

However you choose to do it, just make sure you keep the eggs and the stories in the order of when they happened between Palm Sunday and Jesus' ascension. I like to have a copy of the egg colors, items, Scriptures, and messages printed out in front of me when I'm going through it the first couple of times. This helps me to remember the correct order of the eggs. (Tomorrow night I'll try to put one together and upload it to Homeschool Launch so that you can download and print it out for your use.)

You can order the Resurrection Eggs and the other resources I mentioned either individually or together in a bundle at Family Life Ministries. I'm not an affiliate. I just love these resources, and I also think that Family Life is a great ministry to families. :)

If you use the Resurrection Eggs with your family, I'd love to hear about your experiences with them. Also, please let me know if you decide to use these for the first time. They make a beautiful family Easter tradition!

Journaling: For Better or Worse

I promised an update on yesterday's post, so here you go!

Two out of my three children were thrilled and just chomping at the bit to get their hands on their new sketchpads and draw in them. Those same two seemed happy enough to pull a writing prompt from the jar and tell me their thoughts.

These two are - you guessed it - the females in the bunch. They also happen to be the youngest, so they dictated what they wanted to say, and I wrote it down for them.

They proceeded to immerse themselves in drawing a picture to go with their writing. Giggly Girl loves to draw detailed pictures, so I knew she would enjoy this. (I had not planned on Sweet Pea, who is three years old, participating in our Daily Diary time, but she really wanted to, so I gave her my sketch pad and let her go for it. I'm so glad I did. This was her first attempt at any type of writing and her first try at drawing flowers, and I think she did a fantastic job!)


Sweet Pea's Entry


Giggly Girl's rainbow with a goose flying over a rollercoaster

Now on to my dear Superman, my firstborn, my only child with a "y" chromosome, who avoids writing instruments like the plague...

Upon receiving his sketchbook he immediately announced that he "hates diary time". I placed the jar with slips of paper in front of him, and this whetted his appetite ever so slightly. He chose a prompt and with much coaxing he wrote his journal entry. About halfway through the process (and after a steep rise in my blood pressure), Superman declared that he "might kind of like writing in his diary". He actually did enjoy spelling out the words on his own with minimal help from me. Until now, any writing he has done has been dictated to me, and I have either written it for him or written it out for him to copy. I applaud him for turning around the attitude, for giving it his all (especially with the spelling), and for turning out a great first entry.


Superman's Robin

The entire process took about half an hour, which is a worthwhile investment of time, considering the benefits that will be reaped.

Hope you have a great weekend, and thanks for letting me be real. :)

Journaling: Writing with My Children

Up to this point we've not included journaling as a part of our school day.
We do keep nature journals, which are a treasured part of our nature study, and I've had the kids narrate stories and field trips at various times, but we've not kept a daily journal of thoughts, favorite things, happenings in our lives, etc.

That's all about to change tomorrow, as we begin to have a Daily Diary Time. Writing is one thing that we need to do more of in our home, and I think journals are a great way to accomplish several writing goals:

-Creative Writing
-Organizing thoughts
-Problem-solving
-Creating a beginning, middle, and ending for a story
-Using Literary Devices
-Spelling
-Punctuation
-Sentence Structure

I also think that I'll learn some things about my children that I didn't know before!

I've purchased each child a Crayola Sketch pad. At the bottom I will draw Handwriting Without Tears style lines, and above those there will be plenty of space for them to draw a picture.

Rather than just hand them their journals and let them write about whatever they want (although there will be days that they can do just that), I will give them three writing prompts from which they can choose one to write about. I've printed out the prompts onto slips of paper and placed them in a jar. Each morning after our read aloud time everybody will pull out three slips of paper, read them with help from me, and then pick one to write about. I'm hoping this will help to keep our writing focused, and at the same time give everyone some ownership of their journals.

I will also keep a journal and write alongside my children. I feel like that if they see me modeling the writing process, they'll realize how important it is and that it can be an enjoyable pasttime.

I thought I would share this list of writing prompts and story starters. Some of these were written by me, and others were collected from around the web. Every now and then I'll give them a topic to write about that is related to the unit study we have going.

I hope that you find some of these prompts helpful if you and your children already keep journals or decide to give it a try. :)
(Sorry, but no author's names were attached to the ideas I collected online, so I don't know whom to give credit to.)

You can click here for a downloadable version of these story starters.

1. Describe your favorite dessert. Write about how it looks, tastes, smells, feels.
2. What is your favorite toy? Why?
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why?
4. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be? Why?
5. What is your favorite sport? Tell about how to play it.
6. What is your favorite pet? What does it look like? Why is it your favorite?
7. What is your favorite book? Why?
8. Who is your favorite Star Wars character? Why?
9. What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
10. What is the bravest thing you have ever done?
11. What is your favorite trip you have ever taken?
12. If you could be a super hero, what super powers would you have?
13. Who or what makes you laugh? Why do you think this person or things is funny?
14. Who is a hero of yours? Explain why this person means so much to you.
15. Invent the best dessert in the whole world and describe how to make it.
16. How do you feel when it's your birthday? Why?
17. What would you do to entertain your family without spending any money?
18. If you could invent anything, what would it be? Why?
19. What is your favorite song? Why?
20. If you could give any gift, what would you give, and to whom would you give it?
21. What is your favorite game? Explaing how to play it.
22. What makes our family special?
23. What is something you do well?
24. What is your favorite season? Why?
25. What is your favorite holiday? Why?

26. A good friend is someone who...
27. If I were a giant I would...
28. Some of the rules of our family are...
29. A tradition my family has is...
30. Something I could teach to someone else is...
31. When I grow up, I want to...
32. If all the streets were rivers, I would...
33. If I could fly to the moon...
34. When my Daddy was a little boy, he...
35. When my Mommy was a little girl, she...

36. Yesterday, we were outside riding our bikes, when we saw a huge hot air balloon floating toward our street. It descended lower and lower until finally it landed right in front of our house. There was a note attached to the basket at the bottom of the balloon. It said, "Grab your family and climb aboard for an adventure."
So I...

*37. This morning I woke up and ran downstairs for breakfast. I went to the window to look out and see what the weather was like. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was raining pancakes and maple syrup. I stood there watching all of this food falling through the air when suddenly a gigantic pancake landed on our house. It completely covered the roof and all of the windows and doors.
So I...

38. Yesterday I was outside playing baseball when a huge rocket landed in my backyard. Two famous astronauts stepped out and told me that I could borrow their rocketship and fly it anywhere I wanted, so I...

39. Last summer my family and I stayed for a week in a log cabin in the woods. One morning after breakfast I opened the front door to go outside and there stood a...

40. Yesterday my family and I went on a hike in the woods. We came around a bend in the path and there the woods opened up into a grassy meadow filled with beautiful daffodils. In the middle of the meadow was a stone wall with a gate. We walked up to the gate, opened it and went inside to find a beautiful, secret garden. We began walking through the garden and exploring all of the beautiful flowers and shrubs. I found a little pond that was filled with frogs and tadpoles and fish and was surrounded by tall grass. I began making my way through the stand of tall grass when suddenly, I tripped over something hard. I looked down to see a wooden treasure box. I leaned down to get a closer look and...

41. My favorite thing about spring is…

42. Yesterday I went outside and was flying my kite because it was such a windy day. All of a sudden a huge gust of wind blew the kite high. I held tightly onto the kite string, and it lifted me up off the ground too. Before I knew what happened, I…

43. This morning I went outside and saw a little robin hopping around in the backyard looking for worms. I decided to quietly tiptoe near him and get a better look at him before he flew away. I got closer and closer and came just two feet away from where the robin was standing. I was surprised that the little robin did not fly away. Instead, he turned his head to look at me, and then began to talk! He said…


*This is an example of a story starter that is based on a topic we're studying (weather) and a book we're currently reading (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs).

If you do journaling with your children or have any writing prompts that you'd like to share, I'd love for you to leave a comment with your ideas and experiences. :)

I'm excited about our first day of writing together. I'll be back tomorrow night to let you know how it goes!

Update has been posted. :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The Spring Poetry Edition

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The Spring Poetry Edition!

You are in for a treat. Our fellow bloggers have contributed some delightful posts that will enlighten and inspire you in your homeschooling journey.

Spring will soon be upon us, yet I have very few signs of the season in my chilly Ohio backyard to share with you in pictures. As a substitute I decided to sprinkle the carnival with some poetry excerpts to praise this glorious time of year.

Now settle back with a hot cuppa something and enjoy gleaning lots of ideas from these terrific entries, as you welcome the spring!

"The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in his heaven,
All's right with the world!"

~Robert Browning (Pippa's Song)

Adventures on Beck's Bounty shares encouraging evidence from her backyard that spring is finally here in Spring is Springing. This entry gives me hope!

I always enjoy taking a peek into other homeschoolers' home libraries. Molly at Counter-cultural School has some book recommendations to enhance our nature study in Whatever is Lovely: Nature Study. These are going on my wishlist!

Do you ever hesitate to venture outdoors with your children because of undesirable weather? This post will inspire even the faintest of heart. Homeschooling. Oregon Style. talks about their chilly letterboxing adventure in Charlotte Would Be So Proud and encourages us in the idea that nature study can be done even in inclement weather.

Barb at Handbook of Nature Study gives us some great ideas for tailoring the Outdoor Hour Challenges to our own families and circumstances in How to Use the Outdoor Hour Challenges: Fitting the Challenges to Your Family. I always enjoy turning to Barb's blog for nature study ideas.

Angie from All About Him and her sons went on a nature walk they will not soon forget. She shares the highlights with us in Outdoor Hour Nature Close to Home: Mammals and Weather. If only my family's suburban nature walks could be this eventful!

Kids and Nature is using a daily nature activity calendar for the month of March. She describes their adventures and projects in Meadowlark and includes the link to download a copy of this calendar for you and your children. These daily activities look like a lot of fun.

I'm so thankful that I am able to homeschool, especially when I see my children get excited over nature. In The Joy of Birdwatching I share our winter bird list along with the flurry of excitement that our visitors sometimes create.

"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough."

~A. E. Housman (A Shropshire Lad)

For a long time now I have wanted to participate in Barb's Sketch Tuesday but just haven't managed to fit it into our schedule. Angie at The One Thing inspires me to finally jump in and give it a try, as she shares her own family's experience with Sketch Tuesday: Tropical Birds.

Cindy at Our Journey Westward shares directions and pictures of a beautiful art project done by her children in Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I think I know which artist we'll be studying next. :)

The Tie That Binds Us gives us a peek into some art and nature study she had the opportunity to do with her younger ones in Limbourger Brothers or The Limberger Cheese Touch? This post will inspire you to set aside some time just for your younger ones.

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing.
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

~Thomas Nashe (Summer's Last Will and Testament)

Creative Mommy at Established Work inspires us to teach our children a handicraft with some helpful links for teaching crochet and a summary of her family's progress in Handiwork: Teaching Crocheting and Our First Crochet Lesson. She includes links to a pattern for some adorable crocheted animal friends too.

Angie at The One Thing is teaching her boys to sew and shares pictures and directions for their first project in Simple Sewing Project: A Secret Note Holder. This looks like a great starting place for teaching sewing.

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

~William Wordsworth (Daffodils)

United Teaching is striving to create an atmosphere of learning for her littlest ones. She shares some wonderful ideas for igniting the spark of learning in Lifestyle of Learning for Toddlers.

Living math is something I'd like to do more of in our home. Jimmie at One Child Policy Homeschool shares great ideas for lessons in Graphing and Tangrams with Living Math.

The Lionsgate School describes a new schedule that works well for their lifestyle of learning in Six Reasons Why a Six-Day School Schedule is a Great Success Here.

I hope you've enjoyed this edition of the Charlotte Mason Carnival as much as I've enjoyed hosting. Please take a moment to encourage the contributors with a comment. I know they'll appreciate it!

Don't forget to submit your posts for the next edition, which will be hosted by Jamie at Rose Cottage on March 31st.

Happy Reading and Happy Spring!

The Joy of Birdwatching

Before winter is officially behind us, I wanted to share our list of feathered friends who frequented our feeders this season.

We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count back in February. After one of our 15-minute segments of intense watching and counting, I told the kids that we would take a break for lunch. Superman headed up to his bedroom (which looks out onto the backyard) to play while I prepared lunch. A few minutes later he excitedly shouted down to me, "Hey Mom, quick, look out the window - we've got TWO tufted titmouses! Let's add them to our list!"

It does this Mama's heart good to know that my 7-year old boy still gets excited over birds and nature. Just one more reason to homeschool. :)

Here is our list of winter visitors:
(Links are to one of our favorite bird sites, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.)

Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Slate-colored Junco
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay
Black-Capped Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Tree Sparrow
American Robin (These usually disappear for the winter, but this year they chose to stay with us.)
Tufted Titmouse
Common GrackleChipping Sparrow*
Easter Towhee*
White-breasted Nuthatch*

This first little guy created a flurry of excitement, beginning with me and spreading quickly to Daddy and the kids. For the first time in three years we had a brand new visitor to our feeders! We first spotted him one morning after breakfast. When we realized he was somebody different from the usual crowd, we grabbed the binoculars, the Peterson guide, and the camera. After a quick scan of our guide, we identified him as an Eastern Towhee. There turned out to be a pair of them. They weren't regulars, but they did grace us with their presence several times throughout the winter. Whenever they showed up, the kids would call out, "Our visitor's back!"



Downy Woodpecker: We get a kick out of watching these fellows climb up and down our trees.


House Finch: We seem to have a lot more of these now than we have in years past.


After a snow or icestorm the feeders are even more popular than usual, and the customers don't scare away as easily either!


I know it's not a great picture, but a record of vistors to our feeders would not be complete with out one of our many, many squirrels.


Northern Cardinal: We probably had at least three pairs of these this year.


I'm so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with these little winged friends. The joy and excitement we get from watching and learning about them helps to cheer and brighten our winter days.

Carnival Time!

Just wanted to share with you some blog carnivals you might enjoy.

Lots of ideas and inspiration to be found...






And don't forget to submit your posts for the next edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival, which I will be hosting here.

The submission deadline is Monday, March 16 at 8pm (EST). Thanks for participating!

Global Food Crisis Day

Each night over 300 million children go to bed hungry.

Some of these children are able to have a cookie made from dirt.

They eat it to try to ease the pain in their stomachs.

Yesterday over 12,000 children died from hunger.

And 12,000 more will die today...and tomorrow...and the next day.

For $13 you can feed one of these children for a month.
For $156 you can feed one of these children for a year.

Won't you help?

Click on the button for more information and to donate, and may God bless you for helping the helpless.

Menu Plan Monday

You'll see a couple of meals leftover from last week's plan because things got a little bit crazy around here. :)

Here's our menu for this week:

Sunday: Leftover Buffet

Monday: Tacos

Tuesday: Easy Excellent Ranch Chicken, Brown Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday: Old World Sauerkraut Supper (I've been trying to make this for almost a month - we'll see if it happens this week!)

Thursday: Chicken and Rice Soup

Friday: Pad Thai

Saturday: Hubby's Chili!

Hope you and your family have a great week with lots of quality time around the dinner table!

Colonial Life/American Revolution Part 3: Candles and No Running Water

For the grand finale to our adventures in Colonial America, we spent an afternoon making hand-dipped candles, which we used later that evening as we stepped back in time to the 18th century.

Even though I knew that this project would be something the kids would really get into, I put it off for several weeks because honestly, I had no idea what I was doing and didn't want any burns or huge messes!

Nevertheless, I finally psyched myself up for it, gathered the supplies, and asked hubby to take our three-year old out - somewhere, anywhere - for a very long time. :)

After getting everything set up, I placed two chairs in front of the stove for the kids to stand in, and then laid down some firm ground rules. Under no circumstances could they touch ANYTHING (including each other) unless I told them to. I was very clear that if a safety rule was broken, they were done with the candle-dipping.

Here's what we did...



We broke a 2 lb. block of candle wax (purchased at Michael's) into small chunks and placed into a metal coffee can. Placed the can into a large pot of water on the stove. Heated the pot on low until the wax melted. At times I had to adjust the temp. some while we were working in order to keep the wax from cooling but not burning either. This was not that difficult. I just kept my flame very low the entire time we worked. (CAUTION: Melted wax can burn you! If you try this, do not touch it and do not let the wax touch an open flame.)



We used pre-made wicks from Michael's. We held the metal disc at one end of the wick while carefully dipping the other end into the hot wax. We counted to thirty in between each dip to allow time for the wax to cool. This is what the tapers looked like after about ten dips. After this many layers of wax, we were able to dip the candles into a cup of cold water for faster cooling in between each wax dip. This helped the process to go much faster.



The finished product! We lost count, but I imagine this was after about fifty dips.

I want to add that after I got the kids started, they did all of the dipping themselves. I obviously stood right by them to keep them steady on the chairs and help them if they needed me.

The entire process took close to an hour, and I was amazed that they kept at it steadily until they were finished - no complaints about being tired even though it was hot over the stove, and there was no sitting down on this job! They were extremely pleased with their hard work, and I was proud of their perseverance.

At dinner that night we cut off every light in the house, lit our two hand-dipped tapers, and spent our evening as a colonial family might have done...

After our meal, we washed our hands in a pan of water, cleared the table, and Daddy read aloud from the Bible. Afterwards the kids put on a play about the Crossing of the Delaware, sang some songs, and then we all played the popular colonial game of leap frog.

The kids - and Mom and Dad - had a ball, and we still have our candle stubs sitting on the counter because we just can't bear to throw them away. The project and the candlelit evening made for a wonderful family memory that we won't soon forget.

So if you've got a project that you think you're kids would love, but you're hesitant to try it because it might be a flop or just too much trouble, I encourage you to bite the bullet and give it a whirl. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results!

To see more of our Colonial Life/American Revolution unit, check out part one and part two of this series.