Presents!

Playing with presents-Timothy LOVED the food set-sandwich version-seen here.
This one is Timothy receiving a card Leanna made him.

Opening Nanny Sue & Pop-Pop's present.

Just after opening the Pirate set, found in the clearance aisle at Walmart! (from me and Tom)

Jacob crashed finally, and had a nice nap during the party.

Timothy didn't give a huge reaction to anything he opened. This didn't have anything to do with his enjoyment of the presents though, he just wasn't in a mood to yell or react strongly. He looked so serious! He was happy with everything though and he received a lot of nice gifts!

His other award winning book

Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is now a movie and has always been a children's favorite. Did you know Into the Night Kitchen won awards also? And It's one of the most frequently banned books. Here's an article on the controversial book. I found this really interesting, I had no idea there was a holocaust theme to the story. My sister and I always loved it: "I'm in the milk, and the milk's in me! God bless the milk and God bless me!"

An excerpt:
The primary objection to the book, according to the American Library Association, has been Mickey's full nudity, including penis and testicles, through much of the book. According to the "2007 Banned Books Resource Guide" by Robert P. Doyle, the strongest language in a challenge to the book was in Elk River, Minn., in 1992 where challengers said it could "lay the foundation for future use of pornography." Doyle also notes at least one instance of short being drawn on Mickey in 1977 in Springfield, Mo.
Sendak, however, said the choice to picture Mickey naked was a purely practical one, noting that putting Mickey fully clothed though cake batter and milk could only make an ugly mess of his clothing.
In a 2003 interview on NPR's Fresh Air, however, Sendak did say he was trying to deal with another controversial issue in the book – the Holocaust. Sendak said the moustached bakers attempting to place the young Mickey in an oven was meant as a reflection of Adloph Hitler's orders to creamate those who were killed in World War II concentration camps. The ALA has not recorded a challenge on these grounds.
In an article on Factmonster, citing the National Endowment for the Arts, Sendak said that in his books he tries to help children deal with fears in a straightforward manner.
“The point of my books has always been to ask how children cope with a monumental problem that happened instantly and changed their lives forever, but they have to go on living," he said. "And they cannot discuss this with anyone. No one will take the time. Parents are embarrassed so they'll shush them up.”
In that same article, children's novel writer Stephanie Tolan also said challengers miss the point.
"There are many people (few of them children) in the world of children's literature (and rather more outside it) who are offended by some of Sendak's work for a variety of reasons," she said But I believe those to be the people who don't remember childhood, who have repressed it and like to look back on it as a lovely time of play and innocence and joy. Sendak has a real ability to enter the landscape of childhood—real childhood—and render its lights and its shadows, too."Read more: http://picture-books.suite101.com/article.cfm/maurice_sendaks_other_caldecott_childrens_book#ixzz0U2bhJhQZ

More later

More pirate party and other stuff when I have a chance!

The cake

Those are swedish fish in the sea, pretzel rod oars, boat trim and as the body of the cannon, root beer barrels for barrels, and whoppers for cannon balls and also as part of the cannon. I just stuck the umbrella in last minute to add color. The treasure chest is cake. I meant to make better sails, but last minute it ended up being plain notebook paper. The pirate is from Timothy's birthday present.

I love the stubble on him!

I'm not proud of this cake, which is really dissapointing because I did want to make everything very special for Timothy since he's been looking forward to this birthday. I know, at four, it's not a huge deal to him if his cake isn't awe inspiring. But it was very frustrating for me because this is a simple cake and it should have been much better. I was just out of time and out of patience at this point. Things didn't work out the way they were supposed to the day before and I was out later than I intended the night before, the kids kept waking up one by one that night, and it just didn't go as planned. The day of the party I was still cleaning like crazy and trying to decorate, wrap the last couple presents, finish the cake, do dishes, bathe all four kids, temporarily move homeschooling supplies, bring down presents and supplies.........just all sorts of things, most of which should have been finished the day before.

I can no longer use cake mixes to make birthday(or any other kind of!) cakes. Because of Jacob's allergies I have to do homemade. (Stupid soy!) Luckily, I think the cake tasted great (I was worried). But it does take longer this way. I honestly feel like making this cake again, not even on a birthday, just to do it justice!

Pirates be here!

Birthday pictures

Pirate decorations (sale priced from Joann's)
Pirate Birthday Boy, I mean, "the four year old"

Just a picture Laura took of Leanna

A scary pirate

Timothy, refusing to sit still for a picture

Food Holidays

American Food Holidays

(I did not know there was such a thing til now)

Interesting. Laura, your birthday is national bratwurst and rum day. You should celebrate accordingly.
Appropriately enough, my birthday is Eat a hoagie day and also cream filled donut day, though I'm not huge on donuts, but I suppose if you're gonna eat one, the cream filled kind is the way to go.

A cute cupcake website here

Lead Levels

I found out yesterday that Jacob's lead level is now at 9! This is great news because that's under the current limit of 10, if it's 10 or over you have to keep testing. So now he needs only to be tested again in a year if we're still living in the same house. So I don't have to worry about the lead Nazis anymore, and it means that his lead will likely completely disappear from his body. I called the lead program, and Judy congratulated me and said that I should be proud because his levels going down were soley due to my efforts. (No work has been done to the house and Tom didn't even paint over any of the lead as a temporary solution). I'm just relieved to have it over with.

The Government Can! (For Mom)

Allergies do nasty things.

To protect the guilty, I won't name names, but I have some nose-pickers in my house. I've always suspected allergies were the root of the problem. I've never got all that far with it with the doctors. This article confirms my suspicions that allergies are the root of the problem.

Current Read-Aloud book

The book I am currently reading to Leanna aloud. We do this at night, when the other kids are sleeping. So far we've read Little House in the Big Woods, Meet Josephina, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Glass Elevator, all as read aloud books. There are a few other smaller books we've read as parts of lessons and she's read more books on her own as well.

Why this book is particularly special to me.

I also remember reading this book in 2nd grade. I drew a picture of the mountain, goats, and Heidi and Peter that I can still see in my head, though I'm sure it's long gone physically.

Mimi's been on my mind lately.

More Recent Stuff

Jacob, showing he agrees with his shirt. Unfortunately, the pudding mix he ripped open was not safe for Jacob! (Stupid soy!) Justin asked for some and when I said no, he apparently just tossed the box into the pantry instead of placing it back on the high shelf it originally sat upon. So the little stinker found it and sat there quietly eating it until my Mom radar went off.

The big smile on Leanna's face is because Jacob was letting her hold him and carry him around. I like how the picture of them shows they have pretty much the same hair color. (Justin and Timothy's hair is pretty close to the same color as each other's, so we have two sets!)

A present Justin made for me. He said that my drinks aren't cold enough, so he made me that present. That's frozen water with crayons in it. My little sweetheart was very proud of that!

My current reading, Mem Fox's Reading Magic.

The start of Leanna's story about a Frog Who Wanted to be a prince. (just to show a sample of her writing style and handwriting. That is her neat handwriting.)
Justin, trying to sneak up on a bird.

Things are very busy here. It's a lot of work, keeping things 1/2 decent; teaching Leanna and sometimes Justin, sometimes Justin & Timothy; planning for each day's lessons; planning & cleaning for Timothy's party; planning & making Halloween costumes; today was a lead test again and then the farmer's market; next week we have five different appointments; I have to make arrangements for us to start going to the Phebe home (I made preliminary arrangements, I just have to call and hash out the details); Leanna's got some upcoming Brownie events, and of course there's Halloween itself which will take more planning this year, thanks to Jacob's allergies. All holiday stuff will be harder to accomplish this year, since we have no family vehicle. So if I want to look at Christmas lights with the kids, it will have to be a walking tour of our neighborhood! Or I have to find ways to recruit people to take us places to accomplish things; Plus I have projects I want to do, and I'm hoping to have time to make some Christmas presents and decorations. I feel like everything's rushing up on me.

Yummy Bread!

Zucchini Bread-we loved it! This is the best recipe I've ever made for Zucchini Bread! As Justin said, "It's freakin' good!" I have no idea where he got that one from, unless maybe his Aunt Claire? Justin had three helpings and asked for more! (I had to cut him off. As it was we finished one entire loaf tonight). The end pieces were the best, as Justin put it, "the crust tastes better than sugar cookies!"

Note the two kinds of butter in the picture. The Land O' Lakes Natural Whipped butter is the only one I've found that doesn't contain soy oil. I've been calling it "Jacob butter."

A quote from The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods From Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories by Barbara M. Walker. Hint: that's a book I'd love as a Christmas present!

The Quote:

"Cooking was for Laura a social experience and an apprenticeship. By cooking with her elders, she learned something about food, something about work, and something about human communion. Cooking remains one of the few essential household activities that adults and children or older and younger children can share in modern urban life."

Afternoon Reading

We had an afternoon at the library and reading and doing school yesterday. Timothy kept asking if the car book could be HIS! I had to literally pry Leanna out of the book to get her to do her work!

A new Winnie the Pooh

They'll be coming out with a new Winnie the Pooh book. A lot of people are disturbed by this. Apparently this is sanctioned by a Trust group for A A Milne. They're adding a sassy female otter with pearls. Hmmmm........and the author says, "I made Eeyore a little more proactive so he wasn't always the victim, although you can't turn him into Gary Cooper or something," he told the paper. They're messing with Eeyore? I don't know, you can write further adventures of beloved characters, (I don't see a need for it, but ok......) but to change their personalities? Here's a parentdish article on it.

Good Ideas

Two ways to remember which way the letter should face.



I'll be teaching this to Leanna! I love how easy it is today to find answers to problems on the internet. I was searching for place value teaching ideas, and one thing lead to another and another and another.......and I found this on a blog as well!

It is common for most children to mix up their letters when learning to write. Through repetitive writing, this backwards problem usually fades away naturally. However, this is not the case for everyone. To remedy this problem give them a mnemonic trick or tool to remember the correct way to write a letter or number.

To help remember the correct way to write 9s &Ps....just think of 9 Pigs! After putting fingers into the "bed" position just flip them around so they are now facing towards you.

coffee, chocolate, sour cream, & muffins

All in one place! Laura, I do believe this has your name written all over it!

Redeeming a Disaster Day

At this point in time we are having too many of these days! This is just a bit of encouragement for me.

Another one on Dealing With Doubts.

And from this article by Anne Pitman a couple quotes: "The problem is not doubt, but our need to find a quick solution to the discomfort of doubt without really finding out what the doubt is about. But doubt is an unsettled place. Doubt frantically urges us to grasp for resolution, for closure, for "peace of mind".
And:
"Like anything else, doubt only becomes a problem when it becomes stuck, when it goes beyond one's capacity to endure it. When it does, then more is required. Here is an opportunity to look deeper...."

Another quote from a different source, Dealing with Homeschooling Doubts
by Brenda Hoffman:
The first thing that you need to do is accept the fact that schools are institutions that actually remove learning from its natural realm of the normal, everyday world and placed the confines of brick walls upon it. This is something that we need to remind ourselves about. Another thing that we must remind ourselves of is the fact that schools, as we know them, are only 100 years old. Before then most children only spent a few hours learning inside of a brick building while the rest of their learning took place beside their parents or as apprentices of a specific art or trade. When we forget this we begin to doubt our abilities as homeschooling parents.

Brownie Play-Part 3

Leanna was Indigo (Just the color, Mom). The leader commented that Leanna was cast well.

Brownie Reinduction

From the skit they performed.

The Girl Scout promise

Talking afterward