First snow

I awoke this morning to the magical scene of our first snow of the year covering the ground and still falling, all was still. Upon opening the drapes to better enjoy the vision, I found a possum, eye to eye with me, just as surprised as I, who made his way, widdle-waddle, around the back porch, to the gate, then up, and wiggled his way back down. It was wonderland.

A BOOK REVEIW

Today I am doing a book reveiw on a book that I have read at least six times. It is called Harriet the spy, and I love it. I have also read Harriet spys again. Read this book!

Cate,

The Season of Autumn

It's here, autumn and woolens and tea cosies (I just made my first one!) and fires in the hearth...our favorite season, a prelude to winter days and Christmas. The candles are out and burning, the leaves decorate our windows, the weather is cooler, and I am grateful.

Here is baby in his gnome hat I knit for a Halloween disguise.

 
 

Small requests

My four-year-old, also child number four in the line-up of the family, is a source of many joys and laughs. He is a gentle soul, in the midst of some rather out-spoken souls that abound in our house. He sort of knows his place in life and stays there. His way of phrasing requests attests to that. Before using the potty the other day, he stuck his head in the kitchen to ask:

-Mommy, can you wipe me, when you're done doing, ah, everything?

At other times, he insists on his share of affection, like at bedtime the other night. We were having our good night hug and he did not let go. He said;

-Hug me forever.

I said, sure, and held on, knowing a good thing when I saw it. As we were into our long-term cuddle, he added;

-Hug me forever, let go for breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper and then let's hug again.

My answer:

-OK!

Sitting on top of the world

 

Eat the map!?

 

Edible USA

We had a really fun geography experience this weekend. The idea is
not my own, it comes from an article in Home Education Magazine
(Nov.-Dec.2007) by Audrey M. Smith, titled "Incredible Edible Maps."
We hand-drew outlines of the US, made chocolate chip cookie dough
without the chips, and the kids formed the dough into a giant map of
the US. After it was baked, we filled in the details: blue frosting
lines for rivers and lakes, candy kisses for the Rocky Mountains,
chocolate chips for the Appalachians, gummy snakes for the desert,
gummy fish for coastlines. circles and stars cut out of gum drops for
towns and capitals we wanted to mark, potatoes carved out of tootsie
rolls for Idaho, candy corn for Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas, gummy
bear heads atop chocolate chips for Mt.Rushmore, etc. Use your
imagination. To make it big enough, we removed a tray from the oven,
covered it with aluminum foil, and formed the map directly on it. We
foil-covered Florida and other fragile points to avoid burning. It
needed to bake for 15-20 minutes.

It was so much fun that we have decided to do one for our study on
South America, and then maybe for Europe and Asia and Africa and
Australia and Guatamala and Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso and Germany
and...

Michaelmas follies

 

Michaelmas

 

Celebrating the festival of Michaelmas

OK, so this does not look like a celebration held in a decorous and reverent fashion, but it was a celebration in good fun, this was the play part of our day. The kids, familiar with the story of St.George and the dragon, headed to the basement to find costumes and rehearse a play they invented. It was hysterically funny, and a little wild.

Then children and adults alike came together for a time of verses and breaking bread together; pumpkin bread, and cookies and lemonade. They went outside to play and we followed to sit at the table and yack all afternoon.

A special thanks goes out to our friends who joined us who are new to the festival and who participated wholeheartedly and did not even let on that they found the whole thing a little...new.

Crocodile Museum

 

Dubuque Crocodile Museum