Pix of Our Latest Endeavors.....

Here's LegoManiac and his latest passion, weaving:

















... and String Bean and Bam-Bam mark the first, real snow day here in Denver!

Happy Halloween ...

from our house to yours!

NOTE: The two yellow trick-or-treating bags are made from dishtowels with bias-binding handles. Bam-Bam's jack-o'lantern bag is two Halloween potholders with double-wide binding to give it just a bit of breadth (the cool thing about the potholders -- frankenstein is on the other side -- is that they have a pocket so the bag actually has THREE spots to stash treats!)

More Books for Our Wool, Knitting and Spinning Unit

Here are the books we read on Thursday -- all about wool, sheep and all things knitterly:

Eversole, Robyn – Red Berry Wool
This is a story about the four basic steps of how wool from a sheep becomes a knitted sweater. What makes this story unique (other than the gorgeous illustrations by Tim Coffey) is that the story is told from a lamb’s point of view – he wants a red-berry sweater just like Boy’s! What a great story!

Appleton-Smith, Laura – Shep the Sheep of Caladeen
A royal sheep learns that he is just as special as all the other royal sheep kept by the King and Queen of Caladeen. This is a beautifully illustrated (by Carol Vredenburgh) beginning chapter book that is reminiscent of the parable of the good shepherd who searches for his 100th sheep while leaving his 99 behind. Gorgeous prose and illustrations abound in this one.

Nelson, Robin – From Sheep to Sweater
With photographs to illustrate the text, this book walks the reader through how a sweater is made –raising the sheep, shearing, sorting, washing and drying, combing, spinning, dying, buying, knitting and finally, wearing the sweater. A great, easy book about the entire process.

Lecher, Doris – Angelita’s Magic Yarn
Using a fable from the Andes, Lecher tells a beautiful tale of the knitters of mythical Oru where everyone knits, but Angelita is the best. Bad luck falls on Angelita, but her spirit continues “up beat” as she tries to remedy the situation. Finally, she is given the “gift” of knitting the sun’s rays – and after she gets what she needs, she tries to make the lives of the other villagers better. This is a wonderful story of forgiveness and charitable love.

Rylant, Cynthia – Mr. Putter and Tabby Spin the Yarn
One of the many volumes in the “Mr. Putter & Tabby” series, Rylant here takes on the telling of how Mr. Putter tries to be a good neighbor when Mrs. Teaberry begins a knitting club. The story is cute and humorous (unless, like Mrs. Fitzwater, you’ve ever had a sweater unraveled by a cat!)

Margaret Wild – Mr. Nick’s Knitting
This one had me almost in tears! Mr. Nick and Mrs. Jolley knit every morning on the 45-minute train ride into town. When Mrs. Jolley has to stay in a small, white bed in a small, white hospital room for a long, long time, Mr. Nick has to figure out a way to brighten her world and show how much he misses knitting with her. What a great example of charity knitting!

Sloat, Teri – Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep: A Yarn About Wool
With a bit of rhyme thrown in, this story is a delightfully upbeat tale of freshly shorn sheep shiveringly following Farmer Brown through the processing of their fleeces. A great story that ends happily for all – especially the sheep who want their fleeces back! This is a great read-aloud – especially if you try to sound like a sheep during the repeated: “BAAAA!, they cried. “We want it baaaaack!”

Millionaire, Tony – That Darn Yarn
This is a book with two stories being told simultaneously – a girl decides to knit a present for David while at the same time David’s sock monkey is unraveling. This is a very visual book – so let the kids really look at each picture as you read them this one.

Roth, Julie Jersild – Knitting Nell
Nell knit EVERYWHERE and ALL THE TIME (and that’s a problem, how?) but it takes the County Fair before her friends find out that Nell rarely knits for herself but mostly for others – including things for the town’s orphans and items for people in war-torn countries. By the end of the book, she’s teaching her friends how to knit for others. This is a great lead-in to charity knitting projects such as the Dulaan Project or other similar projects. This newly released picture book has gorgeously colored illustrations (done by the author). Destined to be a classic!

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Next week, we'll start making our own needles and they'll start to learn to knit! This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!

Election Day Novena

Thanks to my good friend, Michele Q. over at Family-Centered Life, I have a fantastic election novena:

Election Novena – October 29 – November 6, 2006

Our Father. . . Hail Mary. . . Glory be. . .

Lord, into your hands do we commend our country during this time of election. Be with those who vote, be with those who work the polling stations, be with those who count the votes, certify the elections, and all who are involved with the process.

Lord, we pray that in our choosing, we may reflect your choice and that our country be in your hands, now and forever, Amen.

O Most gracious Virgin Mary, beloved Mother of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, intercede with him for us that we be granted the favor which we petition for so earnestly in this novena...O Mother of the Word Incarnate, we feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

O Glorious Mother of God, in memory of your joyous Immaculate Conception, hear our prayers and obtain for us our petitions:
* that the hand our Our Father guide our country during this upcoming election,
* that those who would disrupt and disturb the heritage of freedom and truth be restrained,
* that the hand of God guide, direct and determine our leaders this election cycle and always.

O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth; you have the same influence now in heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from him the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

St. Thomas More, adorer of Christ's Passion, who put prayer before all else, devoted husband and father, defender of the Church, perfect model of friendship, impervious to all bribery, committed to the common good, who reverenced civil and Divine law, civil judge of unimpeachable integrity patron of those who hold public office, pray for us now at this critical time of election, where so much is at stake, where the lives of the unborn and those most vulnerable hang in the balance, where the lives of the downtrodden and defenseless against the terrorist are most at risk.

Pray for us, St. Thomas More, martyr for the truth, that with this election, we may draw ever closer to the way God would have our country governed.

Little Souls, children unborn, holy innocents, ripped from your mothers' wombs and now in the hand of our loving Lord, pray for us now, that the election may go to the one most likely to help stem the holocaust of souls of the most vulnerable, the one most likely to be the champion of life and set our nation on the right track. Amen.

We will be praying this each night, starting tonight, until the election. Anyone who would like to join us -- please do. I know the good folks here in Colorado could surely use the prayers as we vote on issues like definition of marriage, same-sex "rights", and other issues as well as the election of a Catholic Governor -- one is an active, pro-life Republican and the other is a slippery, pro-choice Democrat (and it looks like the Dem is going to slaughter the Rep!).

New Unit: Sheep, Wool and Knitting

We started a new unit on Tuesday, the 24th. This one is very near and dear to my heart: we're learning all we can about sheep, wool and knitting (and a bit too about weaving and spinning).

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On Tuesday we read:

Faukner, Keith – Bee Gets a Sweater
This is a really cute picture book about why Bee always wears a yellow-and-black sweater. The book uses textured pages to help tell the story of Spider and her knitting.

Mitgutsch, Ali – From Sheep to Scarf
Through short sentences, clearly defined terms and bright drawings, the reader comes to understand the knitting process – from source to store to grandma’s knitting needles. This is written by a German illustrator and really has a nice, simple (without being simplistic) feel to the overall presentation.

Arrigan, Mary – Pa Jinglebob The Fastest Knitter in the West
This is an easy reader chapter book that has a great twist to it. This book is similar to Ferdinand in that Pa Jinglebob, definitely the under-dog and not a typical sheriff saves the day with his knitting prowess, rather than his gunslinging abilities. Great book for the boys in the audience (although my daughter liked it too; and mom had fun reading it).

Wolfman, Judy – Life on a Sheep Farm
Great, clear photographs are scattered throughout this book that discusses all the processes occurring on a sheep farm. The narrator is the granddaughter of the farm’s owner. A “fun facts” page, glossary and “how to learn more about sheep” finish off this well-written, informative book.

Wheeler, Lisa – Wool Gathering: A Sheep Family Reunion
A great series of poems – centered around various sheep family members – that are often humorous while also being informative. These poems are illustrated (by Frank Ansley) with cartoony drawings that make the kids giggle as they learn about sheep. Many of the poems are funny in their own right; but also have creative word-plays that make it fun for the older folks in the crowd!

Lyon, George Ella – Weaving the Rainbow
I had heard “rave reviews” about this one, but just got around to reading it to the kids. Boy, it is as good as they all said! This is the story of a weaver who raises and shears her own sheep – all the while thinking of the rainbow they’ll make. The illustrations (by Stephanie Anderson) are absolutely gorgeous and I only wish they had a full-size picture of the final product!

We also watched:
Sheep Crossing – The Great White Dog Picture Company, 1996
This video has lots of animals and great information about how we get yarn. There are scenes from farms, spinnery mills, county fair competition and lots more footage to give the kids a great understanding of sheep, shearing, spinning, weaving and knitting. This video really helped to illustrate what we’d been reading about in the various books!
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I have big plans for this unit -- teaching the kids to knit (after making our own knitting needles), adding in the info about the Dulaan Project that I've volunteered for (which will add in a bit about Mongolia as well as being a service project), and more. LegoManiac has already started "getting into it" by (of his own free-will) starting a small weaving project (he's going to make me a scarf to match a sweater I just finished) on a wooden peg loom we've had banging around for the last 10 years!

Momwise's Rule of Six

1. Pray and Live the Liturgy (Mass, Hours, Feasts or Fasts)
2. Identify and Imitate Someone Holy or Virtuous (Saints, Heros, Mom, Dad, Grandparents, or Strangers in the News)
3. Work, Play or Study Outdoors
4. Create...Art, Music, Food, Games, or just Pretend
5. Read...Something Good
6. Love, Serve and Forgive (First One Another, than the World)


God bless! Gwen in Denver, married 26 yrs. to Mike....5 ds (25,20,14,10,6) 2dd (16,2), and dear granddaughter age 4

Never Before Published Winner!

Today we read a great seasonal book -- The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin, by Margaret Wise Brown. This was a story that was had been lost in Ms. Brown's papers and never published till 2003. And thank goodness someone found it and unearthed it and had Caldecott-winner Richard Egielski illustrate it!

This is the story of a small, green pumpkin. The pumpkin dreams of some day being big and fierce and scaring away the mice in the field. The story tells of how this pumpkin grows from being green, to yellow to sun-orange -- and eventually into a fierce jack-o-lantern.

This one is destined to be a classic -- like Ms. Brown's Goodnight Moon!

Come Join Us! Now, we've got international input!

It was suggested (by a fellow 4-realer, Helen over at Castle of the Immaculate) that I should run a carnival for the "Rule of Six".

For those of you who might need a bit of background: in an earlier post, I mentioned plagiarizing from Lissa's Lilting House sidebar what she called "Our Rule of Six: Six Things to Include in Your Child's Day". Lissa graciously gave her permission for us to run this carnival.

Here is my list:

Rule of Six
Things to Include in Your Child's Day, Everyday:
• prayer and Catholic Culture

• imaginative play

• good books

• beauty (art, music, nature)

• ideas to ponder and discuss

• meaningful work

I purposely left my list vague so that I could adapt it each day. These six are more goals than rules, but I love the idea of "rule" as it means that I MUST have each of these in a day.

So what is your "rule of six"? If you'd like to share it -- and we sure hope you will want to share -- please send me a link to your blog entry and I'll include you in the "Rule of Six" directory below this post. If you'd like to use the "Rule of Six" graphic above, just copy it to your computer and upload it onto your blog.

Blessings and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

**********************************************************************************

Here's what others use as their "rule of six":

• Lissa's (the one who started this all!) -- scroll down and view the left-hand sidebar and the story behind the rules
• Angie Mc's rules
• Love2Learn Mom's rules
• Michele Q.'s rules
• Leonie's rules from Down-Under
• Kathryn's rules from the UK
• Helen's rules (with input from her kiddos!)
• Momwise's six
• Elizabeth over at 4RealLearning's rules
• Ruth's from "Just Another Day in Paradise"

Curious George & Rey Unit -- part 2

Today, we spent the morning reading some other non-CG books by the Reys:

Anybody at Home? – flip the flap to see who lives where!
Billy’s Picture – everyone wants to help Billy the Bunny paint a picture.
Elizabite: Adventures of a Carnivorous Plant – no one appreciates the odd plant that wants to eat ANY kind of meat until she decides to eat an unwanted guest.
How Do You Get There? -- flip the flap to see how you get from here to there.
Pretzel – the longest dachshund in the world can’t impress his neighbor dog, Greta, until she needs him.
Spotty – the only brown-spotted bunny in a family of white rabbits, takes off on an adventure to find others like himself.
Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World – an inquisitive penguin leaves the South Pole to find out what else there is in the world.
These are some of the best picture books --it's almost a shame that their CG books "outshine" their other work. These really are alot of fun to read, too!

We also finished the biography of the Reys' escape from war-torn Paris -- 4 months of bicycling, train-riding, boating finally found the Reys in New York (where Margret's sister lived and they had publishing contacts). Somehow all of their possessions that they left behind in Paris -- which were to be shipped to them in New York (but when they left, they didn't know how to get them to NY, nor is there any indication of the stuff finally got there!) -- arrived nine months after they arrived in NY (Oct. 1940). A year after they arrived in the States, CG was published and the Reys never look back.

I can't say enough good things about this book -- my 6 and 7 yo kids enjoyed listening to it; the drawings are lovely and interesting, the text is succinct and action-packed, and the story is fascinating. On the inside front cover is a sketched map of the trip from Paris to Lisbon -- a trip that took the Reys one month and many scary incidents along the way; on the back inside cover is a map of the journey from Lisbon to New York, with a stop in Rio deJaneiro. These maps really helped the kids see exactly how far the Reys had to go -- and others like them in trying to flee from Hitler's war machine.

Honestly, no unit on CG would be complete without this book; additionally, no unit on WW2, US in the '40s, or life of immigrants would be as interesting without this book!

SNOW DAY!

Not!

We were so hoping, after an afternoon/evening of constant snow (with about 4 inches accumulated in our backyard) and more forecast for the nighttime, that we'd have a snow day today....Dad home from school, big kids unable to go to their "home option program" and String Bean's violin lessons canceled.

We forgot we're in the big square state that has many "almosts" and missed forecasts and weather changes at the drop of a hat! We also forgot that we're no longer in the South where -- if snow is even forecasted, the stores are emptied of their bread loaves, milk jugs and rental videos!

Last time I was in snow country I didn't have to worry about driving as we didn't have a car and we lived "next door" to Church, school and the village had a grocery that was less than a mile away. Before that, the last time I lived in any kind of snow was back when I was single, living in Virginia, and it was all an adventure.

I must confess: I hate driving in bad weather ... I hate worrying about getting back and forth in icy or snowy conditions ... I hate the whole frozen mess. But today I came to the realization that I was relying WAY TOO MUCH on my own abilities and forgetting that all I have to do is place my trust in God, drive with caution and that's it.

BTW, my mantra as I drove the kids 20 miles north of our house was "Jesus, I trust in you" -- and all went fine!

Our New Unit -- Curious George

We just started a new unit on Curious George and the Rey's. We are having such fun with these classic stories of an overly inquisitive monkey -- hmmm...seems like I have a few around here! We're learning so much about the authors and are anxiously awaiting the other Rey books we've put on request at the library. Two we have on our shelves already (which are exceptional) are: Find the Constellations and The Stars

Here are the resources we've started using:
Books We’re Reading:

Borden, Louise (illus by Allan Drummond) -- Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and HA Rey
This is a very readable (even to the littles) biography of Hans Augusto Reyersbach and Margarete Waldstein Reyersbach. It’s wonderful and lots of rabbit trails from this one.

Rey, Margret and H.A. -- The Complete Adventures of Curious George
For the 60th anniversary of Curious George’s debut to the reading public, Houghton Mifflin produced this special collection that includes all the original stories as well as a short biography of the Reys and a “photo album” of the couple’s adventures.

Rey Margret and H.A. -- Curious George's Big Book of Curiosity
A little kids’ book that uses George as the main character for introducing all things that kids might be curious about – shapes, animals, numbers and counting, colors, words, etc. It’s more a dictionary than a book – but still a great addition to the unit study.

Web-sites for Research:

Houghton-Mifflin created a web-site for all things Curious George-y. Games, printables, facts and other fun stuff are all available at the Curious George site.

Some basic background facts can be gleaned from the Wikipedia entry for the Reys.

The deGrummond Children’s Literature Collection, housed at the University of Southern Mississippi, was lucky enough to receive many of the Reys’ original artwork and manuscripts to initiate their collection. As noted on the site:

The Rey Collection contains complete sets of original drawings and color separations for six Curious George titles and sketches for a seventh. Dummies, color separations, and full color illustrations are held for a number of other picture books including Tit for Tat, Billy's Picture, Anybody at Home?, Elizabite, See the Circus, Katy-No-Pocket, and Zebrology. An interesting component of the holdings are dummies and preliminary sketches for several unpublished works including "Nonsense ABC," "La Rue: Decoupages a Colorer," and "O Vegetariano Convertido."

I'm a new grandma ...

Lego Maniac's painted lady chrysalid just emerged on Wednesday, October 11.

Isn't Petey handsome -->

And, it's a good thing the little critter is pretty robust; we've been giving him fresh flowers dipped in sugar water but we don't always remember. Which is pretty amazing since his netting is in the dining room!

We're going to let him go out into the big world today; afterall, "love means letting go"....

My new goal for St. Athanasius Academy

This is blatantly plagiarized from Melissa's Lilting House blog (on her left side bar):

Rule of Six

Things to Include in Your Child's Day, Everyday:

• prayer and Catholic Culture

• imaginative play

• good books

• beauty (art, music, nature)

• ideas to ponder and discuss

• meaningful work

Isn't that a wonderful list! If I can do these six things everyday, my children will have a wonderful education (and lots of fun while learning!).... The only thing I changed is placing prayer (and adding Catholic Culture) at the top of the list.

Now, some may disagree ....

Hat-tip to Cottage Blessings and The Bookworm:

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic. You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

Resources for Catholic Information

Here are a few resources which I've stumbled across over the past couple of months. These are directed at educators on all levels -- parochial, home or school. These are true to magisterial teachings and synthesize the information to make the topics easy to grasp and use.

Catholic Educator's Resource Center (CERC) has been going since 1998; but I've just come across it. Editorials and news from valid and reliable Catholic authors abound on this site. Backed by my Archbishop Chaput, as well as other "biggies" in the Church, this site disseminates the truth and the Truth!

Everyone knows how straight-shooting Father Fessio (Provost of Ave Maria University, Naples FL) is about all things Catholic. His Ignatius Press usually sells excellent volumes of fiction and non-fiction books which explain and illustrate the Catholic Faith. The assistant editor over some IP publications runs an awesome blog with editorials by some fairly opinionated Cathoic writers. Insight Scope is well worth repeat visits.

Creatd by long-time Catholic school educator Gilles Cote, Catholic Faith Education is a clearing house of all things necessary for teaching students about the Catholic Faith. Mr. Cote taught in Catholic schools (7th through 12th grades) for 23 years and was also involved in his parish fiath formation programs. Links to clip art, downloadables and unit studies abound on this site.

Finally, I would be quite remiss if I omitted mention of two great sites done by fellow 4realers:

O Night Divine, the brain-child of homeschooling mom MaryEllen Barrett, is devoted to bringing Christ back into the celebration of Advent and Christmas. This is a lovely site with great articles about how others celebrate the Season and bring Christ and His works into the family circle.

JennGM never ceases to amaze and educate! She is reprinting online the beautiful (but long OOP) Around the Year with the VonTrapp Family. Jenn has subtitled her blog, "blogging the liturgical year with Maria VonTrapp" and she is certainly fulfilling this "mission". Recent posts highlight Marian traditions and also saints and their active place in Catholic homes.

If any of my readers have other sites I should see, please don't hesitate to post them in the comments .....

Great links to Kids Literature!

Thanks to a note on KidLit (which is a great blog in and of itself), I checked out this great blog on kids books -- owned by an anonymous bookseller, she has great links to tons of blogs about kids books, writing and other literature-y things.

I liked her profile:

In a literary land far, far away, Bookseller Chick keeps the peace, while searching for the holy grail of holy grails: the mysterious blue book (which the customer can't remember the title, author, genre, or where they saw it, but it was blue damn it, and they want to read it).

Well, tickle me pink ...

... the pictures finally uploaded!

Here's the band concert the kids performed today.















Maggie was rather proud of the "drums I made, Mom" (oatmeal box, hatbox donated by Kotch and a metal box; the drumsticks are unsharpened pencils that I'll be hunting for a few months from now and no one will know where they are!)

Today was music day!

Due to String Bean's recent interest (some would say, fanaticism) over her violin, we did a mini-unit on violins and orchestral music so that Lego Maniac and Bam-Bam would be able to vicariously experience her interests (after all, she's put up with dinosaur, knights and bug units!).

Here are the books we read today:

Arnold, Caroline (photographs by Richard Hewett), Music Lessons for Alex
This is a great book detailing a 10-year-old girl’s first nine months of learning to play the violin. Great detailed descriptions of what needs to happen before a student can play music.

Romanelli, Serena & deBeer, Hans, Little Bobo
A fantasy story, this book tells the story of an orangutan who finds a violin and learns to make music. This is a cute story that would has great examples of practicing before you can play a lovely tune, that different kinds of instruments can make different kinds of music, that playing together to create a “band” can create beautiful music. This is a silly story that makes for a great “rabbit trail” starter.

Prokofiev, Sergei (illustrated by Peter Malone), Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
This is a beautiful version of the classic orchestral piece by Prokofiev. The illustrations are bright, beautiful and encourage close attention to detail. The story comes with a fully orchestrated and narrated CD so the kids can “read” it to themselves.

Ganeri, Anita, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
A great resource for any music unit, this book has great descriptions and pictures of all things orchestral – history, terms, types of instruments, composers, orchestras from around the world, and on playing in an orchestra. The CD includes Benjamin Britten’s composition “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”, written in 1945 for a documentary about music; an added bonus is the beautiful narration by Ben Kingsley!

Videos:

Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is a fantastic video of the Royal Ballet School’s performance of this classic. The narrated is the only adult – all the other parts are performed by children. The costumes are wonderful and the dancing is beautiful; you don’t even notice that there is minimal set/props for the 30 minute ballet.

Disney's Peter and the Wolf is a classic cartoon version with Sterling Holloway (voice of Piglet) as the narrator. Included on this 30 minute video is the music-only “Music Land” about a feud between the Isle of Jazz and the Land of Symphony and Mickey and Goofy hamming it up in “Symphony House”. This is a great “finish” to a music unit with the younger set.

But, of course, no music unit would be complete without a concert. But, unfortunately, I can't show you our concert as Blogger doesn't seem to want to upload pictures today!

Putting Faces to Names is so cool ....

especially when the names are online friends whom you've gotten to "know" really well and yet never met.

That's what happened today -- a good friend from the 4RealForum, heading to her new home in San Diego, stopped by the house. Lissa came with all five of her children and really brightened our day. We had the Denver 4Realers here to greet her -- MaryM, Momwise and Mary G. Here is what we all look like:









That's MaryM holding "Rilla", Lissa holding "Wonderboy", (your's truly!), and Momwise



We were "fighting over" Rilla during the whole visit. What a cutie! And the other li'l darlins were all exceptional. BTW, although we didn't have all our kids there, we still had a good representation with 11 of our various offspring.

A GREAT time was had by all!

St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

For dh's birthday, we made a pilgrimage to the Francis Cabrini Shrine in Golden, CO. Seems that the good lady came to Denver area in 1902 at the behest of the Bishop Nickolas Matz to spread the gospel and provide a peaceful summer atmosphere for orphan children in the midst of the burgeoning "wild west" town.

The Shrine has a 373-step climb to the summit. (Here the kids are smiling -- they haven't started the climb yet!) Along the way, Stations of the Cross, mysteries of the rosary and the ten commandments allow for pilgrims to pray and meditate while making the ascent.


Once at the top, a beautiful white statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus blesses all who come near. The view from the top of Denver (sorry, dh's birthday was a bit overcast) is spectacular and makes you realize 1, just what a bowl Denver sits in and 2, just how high you are (as Denver is at 5280!).

Below the mountain is a miraculous spring. Seems Mother Cabrini and her nuns could not find water on the donated land. She struck a rock with her staff (which is on display in the small museum) and water came forth -- this spring still flows today.

For a great kids' read-aloud, try out Joan Stromberg's The Orphans Find A Home -- it's a wonderful historical fiction about St. Francis Cabrini's work in New York (and I wrote a knitting book that uses this one and another of Stromberg's stories, so you have a whole unit right there!)

Happy Birthday, Dearest

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, My Love!

Kotch made the cake -- note the candle: it plays the funeral march and says "over the hill". Good thing dh is such a good sport!

We went to China this week

... and did we have fun! And all from the comfort of our lovely living room in Colorado!

Yep, we did a unit study using the book, Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong. This book is great because not only does it take us on rabbit trails China and the Mid-Autumn festival, it also discusses shapes which are always a great rabbit trail (tangrams, shape drawings, art....).

Using Ami's wonderful FREE unit study as a "spine", we discussed shapes and drew "round is a ..." pictures, we discussed China -- its geography and a bit about its history, and read some of the fables surrounding the Mid-Autumn festival (which fell on October 6 this year).

We capped the week off with a kid-friendly and kid-made Chinese feast with a round theme -- Ginger Fruit Salad using peaches, apricots, mandarin oranges, sliced bananas and (duh) candied ginger; baked mac 'n' cheese (it was Friday after all) using wheel pasta; and the piece de resistance: homemade mooncakes
-- these are called "Five Treasure Mooncakes" because they are filled with 1, apricot preserves, 2, chopped dates, 3, raisins, 4, coconut, and, 5, the delicious butter cookie outer "shell" .

The whole dinner was a big hit, especially with LegoManiac and String Bean retelling the fable of Chang E, Hou Yi and the Jade Rabbit from the lovely book*, Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, and the Boston Children's Museum.

*By the way, this book is a must-have if you're doing any unit studies on Chinese feasts.

Fall Farm Trip

Thanks to a very active group of Catholic homeschoolers here in Denver area, we are able to do a field trip almost every week. This week's was to a local farm -- 40 miles east of Denver (and boy, is that Kansas-like!) -- for a bit of Fall harvesting info. The kids learned about different kinds of corn -- broom and indian -- as well as sunflowers, irrigation techniques, varieties of pumpkins, old needs vs new niceties, and just generally had a great time.

Here's proof:

That's broom corn; it's no longer a cash-crop as all brooms are imported now (except if you're in Amish country -- I believe they still make them.)

Yes, they have kitties -- and no, we're not bringing them home!
Bam-Bam was awfully proud to have found the perfect pumpkin; he did give his siblings credit for picking the perfect pumpkins "for them".
Millett was distributed so the kids could easily feed the ducks and geese -- note that LegoManiac's jeans are just a tad wet. "But Mom, I have boots on!"

Don't you just love homeschooling?

St. Francis -- revisited

Yes, I know yesterday was St. Francis of Assisi's feastday. I even mentioned it in yesterday's post about starting the Sacrament Prep notebooks.

BUT, I forgot to mention my very favorite quote (and why I consider myself a design-artist when it comes to knitting):

he who works with his hands is a laborer

he who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman

he who works with his hands, his head, and his heart, is an artist

Home made High School Transcripts

Here's an intersting software item coming from two homeschooled brothers: Teascript will make it easier for parents (or their teens) to create official transcripts for college applications. The software is still in beta testing, but if you click on their link you can be placed on the notification list for when the software is ready for use.

Very cool!

Hat tip to Maureen at Trinity Prep Blog!

Welcome KAROLINE ROSE!

Elizabeth Foss over at 4Real Learning finally had that baby! And she's a beauty -- just check out the whole gang over at Van Goal.

WELCOME, little Karoline ... you are in a wonderful homeschooling world! And what better patrons than JP the Great and Therese of Lisieux? You've got some powerful folks there.

St. Francis and First Communion

Well, today I FINALLY(!) started these notebooks with LegoManiac, String Bean and my nephew. Thank goodness my SIL was there to help explain as they just weren't into it. It seems that if you read some of these wonderful homeschooling blogs that "their" kids understand it all and are anxious to really produce something nice, etc.

We discussed manners at Church -- why we cross ourselves with holy water, genuflect to the tabernacle, etc -- and then talked about St. Francis. I love St. Francis -- he loves animals and people; ALL of God's creation are his family. I love this. I hate the portrayal of this rather opinionated man as the cutesy, animal lover (to the exclusion of humanity). St. Francis could be very tough to deal with, especially when it went against what he firmly believed in. Very few (if any) children's books deal with this part of Francis....maybe I should write one?

But, at least we started the notebooks .... that's the important thing to remember. And that next week is another chance to "catch" the kids' imagination and spark the interest in their Faith that is such an important part of "sacrament prep".

Great Catholic Mystery Series

I have discovered a new series, written by married couple Aimee and David Thurlo, about a nun named Sr. Agatha. The protagonist is one of the extern nuns -- that means she greets the public for a cloistered order -- living in a monastery in New Mexico.

I'm on the third in the series and all have been very well-written and have a real Catholic feel. The authors are obviously active Catholics and must know devout, sincere religious folks. The mysteries are unique and the overall series are a delight to read.

The first, Bad Faith, occurs on monastery grounds and introduces Sr. Agatha. The other religious characters are wonderfully crafted with the individuality you really find in monasteries (as opposed to the popular idea that all nuns are little old ladies bent from all the praying). The second story brings back all the main characters and develops them even further -- Thief in Retreat also gives wonderful background about the southwest form of iconography called santos.

I'm still in the midst of the third, Prey for a Miracle, so I'm assuming it's just as good as the other two and so far that is the case.

See what you think about this series. I'm impressed that folks are still writing clean "cozy" mysteries like those made popular by Dorothy Sayers or Josephine Tey. I hope the Thurlos write a few more with the same level of Catholicity as their first three.

It's Not so much stealing as it is borrowing....

Kathryn over at The Bookworm has a great idea to help the kids remember things on a weekly or monthly basis. Akin to "fridgeschooling", she has invented what she calls a noticeboard. Now, she explains (and has pictures) of how she wil keep this board up. I immediately thought that this too would work in my house -- our fridge is probably bigger than the Brits', but it's one of those stainless steel ones and somehow doesn't look right covered with paraphernalia!

Anyway, I think we'll do something similar here -- using the tri-fold "science fair" boards available now, I'll have liturgical color borders appropriate for the season and post "saint of the day", composer/artist of the month, and our current unit study ... For instance, October is the month of the rosary and respect life month -- so we'll post the novena we'll do for the unborn and a bit about the rosary.

And I have just the spot to put it, too!

Large HAT TIP, Kathryn! You Brits are pretty darn clever.....

Family AND Friends

Whenever my siblings and I would fight, Mom would say "someday, your brother/sister will be your best friend." She'd then admonish us to "never fight so much we stopped talking or loving each other."

This maternal admonition came home to me in a BIG way the Summer of '06!

We had THOUGHT we were moving to Austria for Rick to pursue a doctorate in bioethics. God had other plans. After selling our home in South Carolina, packing up, storing our things in various locations, giving away all that was no longer "necessary" and generally wreaking havoc on our staid existence, we found out we were NOT going to Austria as the Austrians wouldn't grant us visas to stay for more than three months.

Figuring God had slammed that particular door, we decided to "drop back and punt"; we decided to go with Plan B: relocate to Colorado. So with five kids, no job, and no home, we flew out on June 1st for an extended stay with one of my brothers, his wife and their 10 children. For THREE months we co-habitated; yep, all 19 of us with two-and-a-half baths, one washer, one dryer and a very slow internet connection.

But, as Mom's admonition promised, we were able to keep the family going because we're all friends. Yes, there were ructions, fights and general mayhem. But the bottom line was that we love each other and are still great friends.

As Mom promised, my brother and his wife are our best friends and we owe them a HUGE PUBLIC THANK YOU for allowing us to live with them while dh got a great job at the diocesan high school and we found the perfect house for us.

And, God willing, we're not budging for a long, long time because now we don't have to drive for 3 days to come visit our best friends -- it's now only 30 minutes!