Picture of the day

Fairy houses and Snapfish

It's been a while since J and B have felt like making fairy houses but this morning that's just what they wanted to do. They both like to use only things they find in nature and they like to keep them simple. J made a sea glass pathway (from sea glass she found at the beach yesterday) up to her fairy's tee pee. This one is for a girl fairy. She left a blueberry from our blueberry bushes in a little bowl (an acorn cap) in case the fairy got hungry.B had an entrance way arch made out of sticks with a stick and stone path leading up to his house. He also made his fairy a camp fire (the red berries are there to show the fairy that they are to light a red fire there) and left a small stick for roasting marshmallows. He also thought his fairy would be hungry and left some berries to nibble on.
This afternoon I was looking at an album I made for B for his 6th birthday in June and I thought I'd share it with you. I was visiting a friend in NJ and she showed me 2 albums she had made for her children for gifts. With B's birthday coming up, I thought this would be the perfect gift. So I stayed up late that night creating his album on Snapfish.com . Here are a few pictures from the album:
Did you catch his little tongue sticking out at me? I only saw that when I downloaded the pictures-that little rascal! ;)

Organization and a river walk

This weekend I've spent a ton of time getting my house 'in order'. I started by getting out the plastic bins and putting clothes, toys and books in a bin for my sister (Susan please let me know if you don't want these), another bin for Goodwill and another bin for stuff that's beyond saving or passing along. I then got my bookshelves in order. I put all the kids' curriculum in one book case (stuff we're definitely using) and then put other curriculum that we will sometimes use in a roundabout bookshelf. I have this all divided up by subject area. In the kitchen (below) I placed some readers I will use with B and chapter books for J. I also have all my Waldorf picture books and Waldorf seasonal stuff together here.

Then I went through all the art supplies and organized them too. These probably won't stay organized for very long but I can try, can't I?!

The mudroom was a big task. I got rid of a lot of shoes and hats and mittens that no longer fit and figured out what I will need to buy for the cold weather that will be fast upon us. I've finally made room in one big closet in the mudroom for the vacuum, mops and brooms.

And for the kitchen, I bought an office supplies caddy to put all the stuff we use daily into-pencils, scissors, tape, etc... This will just stay on our kitchen counter. I feel so much better starting off the new year organized!

After lunch today Jeff and I did get a chance to go exploring for an hour while the kids were at a friend's house. I love it when I find a new spot so close to home. This is my favorite time of year. . . the leaves have just a tinge of yellow and orange. It really smelled like fall today! We'll see what the rest of the day brings, maybe a nap and then a family barbecue.

Out into the wild (a family nature walk)

This morning we took advantage of the glorious sunshine and went for a walk in the fields behind our house. This is a wetland area and I thought it would be a good time to walk as we've had a solid week of sunshine. Well, it was dry but we had to make our way through grasses as tall as the kids. I felt like Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer! We did get some relief in some areas where a kind soul mowed a path. Anyway, we felt like quite the adventurers!

A little, little hill the kids call Mt. Everest

B was determined to make it down to the brook.

Cotton Candy

A Special Sort of Place

"Oh no, don't go any higher!" "Come on Mob (yes, that's Mob, not Mom) I can climb to the very top!"

He just had to stick that foot in there.

Sisterly Love

"Look at me!"

Methinks autumn is on it's way!

Lovely.

A little homeschooling update, quiet neighborhood and blueberries

I came back from a week at family camp and felt all vacationed out. So, I decided to start doing a little homeschooling with the kids on Monday. J is studying early American history and she's been reading about Native American life (in a very general way). On her own she's been reading Om Kas Toe and I've been reading Walk the World's Rim to J and B. We've also created a timeline by the stairs going to the basement. We've also been reading an interesting book called Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane. It's a semi-fictional account of a boy living in 1805.
B has been working on his handwriting with his Handwriting Without Tears book. He seems to really like it. He's also been working on his reading skills while using Explode the Code.
We haven't really started math yet as I am still unsure as to what I'm going to do with J. I tried out Singapore 2B with B but he didn't seem too interested. I'm going to stick with it though for a little bit and see how it goes. The three math curricula I'm most interested in are Math-U-See, Right Start math and the Key To series. Any recommendations?
I've also been doing some drawing lessons with them using Mark Kistler's Draw Squad. They both really seem to enjoy that.
That's it. . .the neighborhood's been quiet as all their friends have been away. One family came back home last night and they all went out bowling. This afternoon they have been over climbing trees, playing with water guns and picking blueberries. The blueberries are better than ever this year but I'm afraid the bushes have some disease. The leaves are all spotted. Ugh. I hope we don't lose the bushes. I'll have to investigate. All's well on this hot summer day.

An Adirondack walk

Yesterday I took a couple hours for myself and went for a walk by the Sacandaga River. What a beautiful walk! I love this walk because it is an interpretive trail so I get to learn the names of the local flora and fauna as well as enjoying the beauty all around me.

Today is another sunny day and I expect we'll spend it by the lake. My brother-in-law is renting a sunfish so he'll be taking us all out for rides this afternoon. After dinner my older sister and her family are leaving to go back to China. We'll miss them all so much! :(

100th post, quiet week and road trip

I can't believe I made it to 100 posts-quite an achievement for someone who doesn't like to stick with things! My blogging has slowed down a bit recently with the slower summer lifestyle but I'm still enjoying blogging just as much. I think I might just make it to 200 posts!

This week has been quiet. J was at camp from 8-5 every day so it was just B and I for what B likes to call "J and B time". We went into Burlington one morning for the International Waterfront Festival and watched and listened to these very talented storytellers/musicians.

We picked hydrangeas from the garden:

And wild flowers from our lawn that hadn't been mowed for 3 weeks:

There were a couple trips to the toy store to buy marbles, a day visiting with a homeschooling friend and a morning at the lake. That's about it!

Our quiet lifestyle will soon be changing as I'm packing up the kids and going on a little road trip. I'll be on the road for 6 nights. I'll try to post while I'm away if I get a chance!

Here we go again!