Kappfull of Learning

Originally for gospel study I was printing coloring pages for them to color on, but I'm really loving just watching what they come up with.  It's so much more fun, and they get really into their drawings. Nora was upset about the black "narwhal" on her picture, because little sister Emy added that feature, and it was not appreciated.

I love that the Good and the Beautiful Language Arts program incorporates art (among many other subjects) because I'm not artsy and my kids love it.  Here Molly is using Level 2 and she is copying a poem in past tense from present tense and then drawing her interpretation of the poem.  I caught her looking up here, but she was very absorbed in her project!

Nora turned 5 in January and I'm pretty sure that she already has better handwriting than I do!

I've mentioned before that this one is a very messy eater and so she usually gets a spray down in the sink in the morning which she absolutely loves. Then we get her dressed and have some reading time before school.  This morning she wasn't interested in sharing her chair...

For our read aloud we've been working our way through, The Light Princess by George MacDonald. It's been a bit on the older side for Nora and Emy and maybe even a little bit for Molly, but she really enjoyed the overall plot that she was able to follow. She was able to grasp the overall story, I just think there were some hidden gems she will be able to understand more when she is older.  I'm thinking 10 and up probably would have been best, but it was still a great read.  I especially loved it and found myself reading ahead after read aloud was over because I wanted to know what happened next.  I've loved finding old books at Thrift stores, I feel like they are treasure troves just waiting to be opened.

When most of the family is sick it can be time to call for a movie day (Although we did get school done first). The girls picked Incredibles 2, and then Emy thought that it was very important that we make "num num cookies" like in the movie.  She asked so sweetly I just couldn't say no! Plus I may be addicted to chocolate chip cookies, so there is that.

This is still her favorite place to hang out, even if she is too tired to play the keys...

Molly unfortunately is sick today, but the rest of us talked about the miracle of feeding 5,000 with the loaves and the fishes, and then the girls drew pictures.  It just kills me that their fish have eye lashes and the loaf of bread has a bow on top.  Yes this is an all girl household, my poor husband.

Since my baby refuses to let anyone feed her, this is usually what I have to clean up every morning.  Sometimes it's not so bad, but it almost always requires that she at least have a wash down in the sink.

I wasn't feeling well at all yesterday so school was done in my bed.  It was a little trickier than I would have liked, but I just did one kid at a time, and that worked pretty well.  The girls had a lot of free play time, and were outside a lot, but we also got our read aloud in while I sat on the couch and they built with legos.  For being a sick day, it was a pretty good day!

Saturday the two oldest (Molly and Nora) and I went to see the Alice In Wonderland Ballet.  Nora's ballet teacher was in the show and Nora is always so excited to go and watch her dance.  Nora kept telling me all the different characters she wants to be when she gets bigger and I kept thinking how much fun it will be to come and watch her dance, if that's what she continues to want to do.  It's weird but also rewarding watching these girls grow up and thinking about them getting even bigger.....

Friday's are usually our fun days, but we still had to get some chores in.  The school room was looking pretty messy by the end of the week so the girls all chipped in and we got it cleaned up in no time. It's a lot of work having them "help" with chores, but it's been so rewarding to watch as Molly is finally able to actually be helpful.  It gives me hope for when they are all a bit older, maybe one day we will be able to keep the house clean without it being so stressful for mom!

I'm not sure why I give Emy popsicles, this, or a version of this happens almost every single time.... You think I would learn...

Nora was having a hard day yesterday, with lots of tears.  So I told her to take some "you" time.  This is where I found her.  She made herself a bed on the floor (right next to her real bed...) and got her lamp and read books for a long time.  We didn't finish all of her official schoolwork, but I think that this was better. If my kids love to read then they will excel, I firmly believe this.

I always wondered at what age my kids would start being actually helpful when cleaning, instead of making more work for me to teach them to clean... Well Molly is 7 and she can now fully wash, rinse and dry the dishes all by herself.  I just have to put some of the them away.  It's marvelous I tell you, MARVELOUS.

Every time I get on Pinterest or Instagram I'm always amazed by how clean people keep their kitchen while they are baking (or just ever really).  I feel like I am constantly cleaning my kitchen and yet somehow it always looks messy.  I will say though my kitchen see's a lot of action and is very functional even if it doesn't usually look so great. Today we had to make a couple different kinds of cupcakes for a church activity on Sunday.  We went with the classic chocolate, and a yummy lemon that will get a heavenly raspberry buttercream come Sunday morning.  I love making cupcakes, and the girls like to help too!

This kid refuses to let anyone feed her and she always wants to use a spoon or a fork.  That means that she gets to eat the morning smoothie out of a bowl, as she is less likely to tip it over that way.  Don't worry though she still covers herself in whatever it is that she is eating.

The girls spent over 2 hours drawing with the new pastels we got.  They would have kept going as well if it wasn't time to go to gymnastics. They like to do drawing lessons from Art Hub for Kids on U-tube but they also did a lot of their own things as well.  It's always fun to see what they come up with! So kind of Emy to pick her nose right for the picture... But it's a more accurate representation of our day.

The weather gets above 45 here and it's time to get some work done outside.  My husband was working on the chicken coop while the girls played and I dreamed about all the plans I have for the yard with very little energy to do them.  One day though they will get done. Maybe not this year, but one day. Nora found a little worm and a tiny flower and she was in heaven.  She loves worms and always wants to make them homes so they can be comfortable.  She doesn't understand that they need to be in the dirt to live and she gets upset when they don't survive.  She makes them such nice homes, she just wants them to be happy. Hadley has a love for the sand, and I have a feeling we will spend a good part of our summer right here in the sand box digging and dumping.

I was really hoping to sit down at the piano and practice for a bit, but after 15 minutes of this one screaming at me I gave up on it and let her have the bench.  She thinks she is so big when she plays the piano and will sit there for hours at a time just punching the keys.

In the book Esperanza Rising it talks about yarn dolls that they made for the girls who couldn't afford real dolls.  They had instructions for how to make them at the end of the book and Molly was so excited to make one.  So we found some thread and away we went. We had just enough to make one for each girl and they love them.  They are really pretty simple to make and come together rather quickly.  You can braid the bottom into "legs" as well but my girls all wanted their dolls to have "dresses." Molly decided that she wanted to draw a face and hair on the doll and convinced the other girls that they needed to do the same. Nora is always the mother, and has carried her doll around like a baby with her where ever she goes. Yes, Emy lost her's about 5 minutes after we finished it and have been devastated ever since, but hey we had fun while it lasted!

It may not be full on garden time yet, but I'm counting down the days.  Yesterday the girls helped me plant our peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, and some flowers.  It might be a little early to get starts going, but I really don't care.  It felt so good to get dirty, really dirty, and plant some seeds.  We can't wait to watch them grow!