Posted in Birding, Books and Reading, Homemaking, Learning, Locally grown on May 5th, 2010
After a flurry of chicken-planning activity this winter/early spring, we have our long-dreamed for chicken flock (the three hens, plus three new Speckled Sussex chicks, and three more chicks on order (2 Australorps and a Buff Orpington)). And the chicken run is mostly complete (needs a little gussying up, and a grape trellis up the [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Changing Seasons, Learning, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Feb 24th, 2010
The girls are listening to Daddy read The Mousehunter at bedtime, but our daytime book selection reflects the unusually sunny, warm weather that has us all thinking of anything except the tail-end of winter.
We just finished listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Which is why we’re starting an asparagus bed - Little Hen was fascinated by [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Learning, Playing/ Free Exploration on Feb 9th, 2010
This photo pretty well sums up our morning literary activities of late.
First thing this morning, we had to get a bit pot of chili blanco going on the stove, and batch of brownies in the oven, since it’s our turn to bring dinner to our homegroup. While Firecracker helped measure out the spices and crush [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Learning on Dec 13th, 2009
A lovely, chilly December Saturday – the icy weather kept us in the house, delving once again into the world of Greek Mythology. We made mugs of hot mint tea, and listened to Daddy read from our current Percy Jackson book.
It’s wonderful to share a passion with your children – there’s not much we [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Playing/ Free Exploration on Dec 12th, 2009
The dolls hosted a little Christmas tea party for their sparrow, cardinal and swan friends yesterday morning. Pretend mint tea, fruitcake, gingerbread, and bird seed were served under the Christmas tree.
The girls were inspired by my favorite childhood Christmas book – Tasha Tudor’s, A Doll’s Christmas. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Crafting, Giving, Moderation and Economy on Dec 9th, 2009
The weather here has been bitterly, bitterly cold (we are eagerly anticipating our annual Christmas trip to Florida next weekend!!). The past few days, we’ve built a big fort out of chairs and blankets in the living room. We’ve been spending our mornings snuggled under it, reading Christmas stories (like this collection of short stories, [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Knitting, Learning on Nov 15th, 2009
We are feeling a bit like hermits, cooped-up in the house for days and days – the little ones are still wrestling with sickness, and we had to miss church again this week. Little Hen, still healthy, escaped to Grandma’s house for the weekend (a BIG thank-you to Grandma for inviting her up!).
After homemade pecan-chocolate [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Learning, Playing/ Free Exploration on Sep 23rd, 2009
We’re studying Africa off and on lately, primarily because the girls’ interest in the continent was sparked by their favorite musician’s recent work in Malawi. I picked up this felt Africa playset at the thrift store on sale for a quarter, and it was a big hit. Along with Dana’s music, we’ve been listening [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Mothering tool kit on Sep 14th, 2009
Little Hen found this book at the library two weeks ago. The topic is one that has interested her for a long time, and she read the book , cover to cover, as soon as we got it home.
The basic massage routine takes 5-10 minutes, but there are several techniques described in the book, and [...]
Posted in Books and Reading, Nature Table on Sep 4th, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, while Firecracker played with her magnet dolls, and Tum Tum slept, and I was mopping the floors yet again, Little Hen was a very busy girl – running upstairs, to her room, getting into the kitchen cupboards, and heading back upstairs again, gleaning items from around the house to remake the nature table.
Even [...]