Four all together :D

We've been reading Grandfather's Journey this week.  We've done some simple origami for art, looked at our map for social studies, talked about the days of the week for math, and even discussed poetic prose for language arts.  I haven't been on the actual computer much lately, which explains why I haven't been keeping the log up. We did skip the last lesson in The Glorious Flight this past Saturday.  And things have been crazy good here lately, what with Presbytery meetings, monthly Bible study, costume making, trick or trunk decorating and pondering on NaNoWriMo plots. 

It's all about perspective

We did our art lesson today from The Glorious Flight with a camera. Since the lesson was on perspective and viewpoint, and because I didn't feel like getting all the paints out, we used the camera and different objects.  We took pictures from high above, down below and on eye level.  Perspective is very important when taking pictures and art in general.  I didn't want Hannah to get frustrated with trying to draw/paint different perspectives, as she has been very easily frustrated this week, so we went with the camera route. 
I also found a Smithsonian book on the shelf this morning.  It has pictures of Bleriot as he took off from France and during a parade that occurred after the flight.  I will have to do some more reading in the book tonight in preparation for our science lesson on Saturday, which should include a trip to the flight exhibit at The Henry Ford Museum. 

Warm by the fire side

Hannah and I continued on with A Pair of Red Clogs in our FIAR study.  Today was art, we talked about unity of theme.  This book uses the color yellow in every illustration except for the introduction.  There is one particular picture that has Mako sitting by the fire.  She is all warm and toasty and you can tell, just from the differences of colors on her body.  It is quite beautiful.  Hannah and I talked about how warm she appeared and how the artist did this using warm tones.
We are still on a HUGE dinosaur kick around here.  We've been watching dinosaur shows and movies off of Netflix.  One that I'm actually impressed with is "Chased By Dinosaurs" which is produced by the BBC.  It's well done and entertaining and not just for little tykes.

Lollipop trees

For our final lesson with Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, we drew trees. Lollipop trees, conifer trees and many others.  I think we had some pretty good lessons in this story.  With the stewardship lesson, we have been continuing to have a chore time after lunch.  I get to do the dishes and make my bed, while Hannah makes her bed, deals with any clothes and toys in her room.  One thing for sure, it's kept the house looking nice :D
We have a very busy week ahead of us, my brother is getting married next Sunday, and I have to finish making the shirt I'm going to wear.  There is also quite a few things going on at church. 

Sew Sew lesson

One of the details I adore in The Rag Coat is the little rag doll that Minna makes.  This morning, we did an art lesson and instead of going with the suggestions in the FIAR we made a little puppet.  Hobby Lobby has these wonderful felt hand puppet kits, it comes with everything you need to make it except glue.  And it's wonderful for little beginning hand sewers because the holes are pre-punched.  Before reading the story, I told Hannah what we were going to do for the lesson and she pointed out the little doll in the illustration when reading about it.  She says she wants one just like it.  I'm proud of her ability to sew, she comes from a long line of seamstresses, so it's probably natural. 
It is wonderful to think about how much culture has changed with the invention of the sewing machine.  And amazingly how it is now more expensive to make your own clothes than to buy them out of a store.  With fewer and fewer women sewing their entire wardrobes, the cost of cloth has continued to go up.  I think it is still worth while, because the clothes that I have purchased are never as rewarding as the ones that I make for myself.
I may introduce to Hannah later today the verse about clothing the naked and help us remember that we are blessed to have so many outfits to choose from each day.

A long day

It's 2 and we haven't even come close to doing lessons yet today.  We went to Community Bible Study this morning and then enjoyed a bite to eat with our generous chauffeur.  I think Hannah enjoyed herself, she didn't come home in tears, so I guess that's pretty good.
We're studying Revelation and Hannah is doing year 3 in the preschool curriculum.  I love that they encourage picture reading.
Hannah and I got to see the Postal worker deliver our mail today.  He has this really neat key that he called an arrow key (I think) that opened that back of our mail boxes.  And there was a DVD from Netflix in our mail today.  Which means that we've been watching that sense we got home.  I guess we'll do the lesson some time later today. I think we'll do juggling today :D

Artistic License

We had Art lessons today with Madeline.  I pulled out an old photo of Luxembourg Garden and we talked about the difference between a photo and a drawing.  It's kind of fun to take a photo and try and turn it into a work of art.  It's even more fun that Bemelman's drawing was recognizable from a photo taken from a completely different angle.  Now we are watching "My Father's Glory" on Netflix streaming, to get some French language exposure.  Sometimes I wish we could study France every week :D 
In other news, I was ready to stay in bed all day. And then it got worse when I attempted to make breakfast, I went to get a single egg and the carton crashed to the floor .  In addition to the expected pancakes, we had a mess of scrambled eggs as well.  God is good, all the time

Paris photos

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. These are from a quick trip into Paris in 2006. Feel free to use them for your Madeline lessons!

Five and counting

My itty bitty baby girl turned five on Sunday. She has always been a real sweetheart, which I guess is to temper that stubborn streak that runs a mile wide.
This past Monday, she and I started kindergarten. I had gone to the library and checked out The Story about Ping We read it yesterday and tried to realize how long ago 1933 really is. In fact, it is old enough that my grandparents probably read the book as children and one of my grandparents was probably 33 the year it was written. Hannah hated. She thought I talked far too much, and just wanted me to stop.
Today, I pulled the book out again and sharpened a few pencils and dusted off some plain paper from the play room and set at it again. She did much better, and for that matter so did I. We talked about drawing water, she loves to draw. And since she was so interested, I snuck in the letter W on her. She makes a beautiful W.
And now, she is off with some friends having a lunch. And here I am, writing to you. I love being a mommy and I am ever so grateful that God is not through with me yet. He continues to mold me and teach me, instruct and encourage me. He helps me and shines a light on paths that will lead to his mercy.