Mid-Way Through the Holidays

So, sorry for the skip in entries, but the holidays intervened.  There were Hanukkah parties,  Solstice crafts and stories, a Christmas gathering, and all that pre-Christmas stuff before the actual day.  Juno and Freyja have been reading, working on crafts (pom-pom maker and chenille stem craft kit), and doing the occasional computer learning-games.

Today, they are still working with their new craft kits.  Juno got Pom-Pom Monster Salon from Klutz and Freyja got Twisted Critters:  The Pipe Cleaner Book.  The girls have been making stuff from these kits for a couple of days now.  Klutz books are good purchases.

The girls have been extra fractious, too, since the holidays have started.  I hope to get them to settle down now.  The combination of too much sugar and not enough sleep is very bad for their tempers.  Sigh.

So, we are still taking time off of specific math, spelling, etc. this week and just unschooling for the week.  The girls are learning all the time.

List of things they have done today:

• Geography DVD about Canada (maps, history, culture, etc.)
• Crafting
• Drawing
• Watched Martha Stewart segment on handmade Christmas ornaments
• Listened to Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson books on CD.
• Went out for a special lunch with their big sister, Ereshkigal, to New Fortune for Asian foods.

Tuesday and Wednesday

  

Tuesday was the first night of Hanukkah, so our housemates had a party with lots of latkes with dinner (complete with sour cream and applesauce) and a doughnut for desert.  My children joined in with the lighting of the menorahs and played the dreidel game with the other children.

During the day on Tuesday, there was reading time and the girls also used the computer.  Freyja did some games on Cool Math for Kids, which also has science and geography games as well as puzzles.  Freyja did some of everything.  She was on a roll.  She even put together a puzzle-map of Mexico!

Today, Wednesday, the girls listened to the second CD of the third book from the Penderwicks series.  It is called The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.  They are really enjoying it.  They listened to the whole book yesterday evening, it seems (after bedtime, I  might point out...).  

Juno has been working on logic puzzles in a workbook called Math Perplexors (Deductive Logic Puzzles) Level A.  I got it for her a while back.  She just picked it up today and started figuring them out.  Earlier, she was also reading a book on astronomy, called The Practical Astronomer (published by Dorling Kindersley), which we got for the girls last Yule.

Earlier today, we also watched the end of episode three of How The Universe Works, plus episode four of the same show.  The first one was about Galaxies.  The second show was about Stars.  The girls are mesmerized by these shows and well-versed on these subjects, for children their ages.  I am thrilled they love documentaries as much as I do.

Freyja also played Kinectimals on the X-Box Kinect and Cool Math for Kids games on the computer.  Juno played some games on Cool Math for Kids as well.  Their favorite today was about building a bridge and it is called Cargo Bridge: Xmas level pack and I am not sure if anyone was able to build a bridge which would hold the little santas/elves as they walked across.  However, they sure had fun trying!
Over and out.

Monday Morning

Today, we are making holiday decorations for the Yule Tree.  Last night, when we got home from the second birthday party of the day, we had dinner. Then Noah and Ereshkigal put up the tree with Juno and Freyja.  They added the pink and white LED lights and some candy canes.  Today we plan to make a long red paper chain to decorate the tree.  The girls also got some little glittery ornaments for the tree and they are putting them on it today.

Sunday

Today, Freyja and Juno have two birthday parties to attend.  Luckily they are not at the same time.  This morning, they have gone to a movie party of Alvin and the Chipmunks for Freyja's friend, Morgan.  Later, we will all go to a party for our friend Miryam who is turning seven, I  believe.

Tonight at bedtime, the girls listened to the audio book The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary on CD.

Friday and Saturday

On Friday, Juno continued reading Garden of the Purple Dragon by Carole Wilkinson, and Freyja read Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day by Kate McMullan.  She also read Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin.  They each used the computer for a while, as well.

On Saturday, we went to Keene, NH to purchase a tree for the girls for Yule.  I decided to get a fake tree, because we have tried in the past to get live trees in pots and they always wind up dying.  Freyja and Juno really wanted to decorate a tree, so I finally convinced their papa that this was the thing to do.  I really don't like the idea of bringing a fresh cut tree in, because I don't like all the needles everywhere, and I would probably forget to water it.  So, the girls are now the proud owners of a fake linden pine that is 7ft. tall.  We will be putting it up and decorating it on Monday probably, or maybe Sunday night.

On Saturday night, they also attended a Solstice event at The Round House.

Thursday

So, we have been taking it easy on academics this week so far and really just doing a lot of reading.  Today, Juno began reading the sequel to Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson.  It is called Garden of the Purple Dragon.

They listened to more of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory audio book today while they rearranged their bedroom.  I came in to find that they were switching beds and moving shelves, etc.  When they finished, it was really much more awesome.  I was very proud of their idea.  Now, if I could only get them to pick up the stuff on the floor...

Tonight they watched a movie with their big sister, Ereshkigal.  They had only ever seen a little bit of Wallace and Grommet, so they wanted to see that.  I heard them laughing a lot.

Later on, they played Mad-Libs with their papa.  I sent him upstairs to have Freyja read a book to him, but when I got up there, they were laughing and calling out adjectives and nouns, etc.  So, I think that will be good for tonight. Tomorrow, I will have Freyja do more reading.  Heh.

Wednesday

Today, the girls did  a lot of reading.  Juno finished a book called Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson.  Freyja read several of her library books to me, plus some books from home.
She read:

1. A monster is coming! / by David L. Harrison ,  
2. A snout for chocolate / by Denys Cazet, 
3. Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll-Walsh
4. Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll-Walsh and 
5. Stop that cow! / by Mairi Mackinnon.

I also read Two silly trolls / by Nancy Jewell out loud to Freyja.

In their room, they listened to the first two discs of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  At bedtime tonight, they listened to the third disc of it, too.

We went to the library today to return some books.  The girls got some more books, too, and put up their train cars on the bulletin board for the reading program the librarian is doing for December.  The kids get to add a car to the train for the books they read each time.

They also did some drawing later on at home and played with our housemates' girls.

And that is all I can remember at the moment.  :)

Tuesday

Today, the girls spent a lot of time in their room playing and listening to the rest of their audio book, The Penderwicks. They played with Barbie dolls, which they hardly ever do.  Juno also read some books to Freyja and Freyja read a couple of short books to herself.  It was also Kosho day, so they practiced with all the other girls in the playroom with their Kosho instructor, Toby.  Everyone is a bit low energy today, it seems.  One housemate is sick with a cold, so we are hoping to avoid that.  Wish us luck!

Monday

So, what did we do today?  This morning, we watched some documentaries. It was like a little documentary marathon.  I noticed one by IMAX called Amazon, so we watched that first.  It was really short, but we liked it a lot.  There was some vintage footage of indigenous people who were being met for the first time.  It kind of got me teary thinking of the rest of the world slowly moving into their special part of the world.  My girls really liked the video.

After we watched that, we watched the first episode of a show called America: The Story of Us.  It is a history show and was very informative.  It turns out to be geared toward an older audience than my girls.  They will watch pretty much any documentary and they watched this one and seemed to enjoy it, but it was really explicit in the violence department.  After reading the review (see link above) as relating to children, I am not sure if I will continue the show with them.  There are 12 episodes in all, so maybe in a couple of years we can go back to that.

At least we got a view of the colonization of the United States of America and all the way up to the start of the Revolutionary War.  I plan to read the poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere to them tomorrow.  Perhaps we will follow up with a book or two in that subject area sometime soon.

After that, we ate lunch and made some cupcakes that turned out to be very delicious.  Then, we watched an episode of Discover Planet Ocean.  It was okay.  It is the 3rd episode the girls have seen, and the first one I have seen.  It has some strange narration, but the children keep asking to watch episodes of it, so they must like it.

Then, we decided to drive up to Keene, NH, to return some library books to the Keene Public Library.  Well, really all the books.  It is too much trouble to drive up there much in the winter, so we returned all the books from there and will stick to our area for the winter.  I can still use all the online services the KPL offers, so that is great.

We also went to Target for a little bit of shopping while we were in Keene.  Juno bought a pair of something called skeggings with her allowance money.  It is a cute mini-skirt with attached leggings.  She loves to buy clothes for herself.  With her allowance, Freyja bought a present for my mom's little dog, Mea.  She bought a (mom, don't tell Mea!) little doggie hoodie that says Santa Paws on it.  It is really cute that she wanted to get a present for Mea.

Then, we drove home and had dinner, and the girls climbed into bed with The Penderwicks audiobook on CD.  It was a fun day!

Ciao!    

Sunday

Well, yesterday we got up early (we are still house-sitting, so we had to get up to water the chickens and let them out).  We took the dog we are sitting (Cotton) and drove back up to Greenfield to drop our extra car off and then we went out to Tully Lake again.  Noah and the girls took the dog out and played Disc Golf on the course there.  I was super sleepy, so I stayed in the car.

After that, we drove back to Westhampton and had dinner and watched a movie with the kids.  The Spy Next Door was, well, the kids liked it.

Today, the girls watched some old Pink Panther cartoons in the morning.  Now they are playing wild pretend games.  Later on, Noah and the girls will take Cotton to the dog park in Northampton, which also is a Disc Golf course. I am planning to stay here and clean up our mess.

We are planning to make some cupcakes with icing this afternoon, and I am going to have Freyja read some books to me.

Later on, we will go to Amherst to see Juno and Freyja's grandfather for dinner.  Then, on to home.  I will be glad to get back to routine, even though this was a fun interlude.    

Sleepy Friday

I was sleepy all day today.  The girls and I are house sitting for some friends who are off on adventures for the weekend.  They have a dog and chickens, so I came over to take care of the animals.

The house is very quiet and nice.  The girls played with toys in the playroom last night and this morning.  They also played with the dog and played outside in the yard for around an hour.

They also watched a movie on Netflix today.  It was this version of Hansel and Gretel.  I was interested because they did not vilify the mother figure.  She was their actual mother and just got mad at them and told them to go pick berries in the woods.  I was glad Gretel still was the one to save them both in the end..

This afternoon, the children did their academics.  Juno did math, spelling, and handwriting.  Freyja did math, spelling, handwriting, and phonics worksheets.  Juno got to go on the computer to do one of her favorite programs, Scratch.  It is a kids' programming language that children can use to create all sorts of fun animations.  It is a free download.  I recommend it highly.  Here is a photo of Juno working on her Scratch projects.



Now, Freyja will get time on the computer.  I know she will do what she did on the computer yesterday, because she thought it was hilarious.  On Cool Math for Kids, she found some Christmas-themed games.  There is one where the reindeer has to kick Santa into the chimney (Super Santa Kicker) and the kids have to figure out how to aim him and avoid obstacles.

Cheers!

Thursday

Today, the children have been drawing all morning long.  We were going to do some academics this morning, but they were so happy drawing and chatting, that I decided we will work on our math and spelling later today.

Here are photos of Juno's story which she wrote last night.

Wetnessday

Juno has dubbed today Wetnessday since it is clammy and rainy out.  They have been drawing a lot today, plus listening to audio books.  The two they were listening to today are The Penderwicks and another called Junonia. 

Other things they did today include:

• math 
• spelling 
• phonics
• creative writing

Last night, at bedtime their papa read to them from the book Avalon: Web of Magic book 1.  They also listened to two audio CDs of The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall after they got in bed.

Tuesday- Kosho and Gingerbread houses

Today, we did math in the  morning.  Juno and Freyja both practiced spelling words, as well.  Juno is reading Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, and she read that this morning.  She is almost finished.  Then, we walked downtown.  The weather today was weirdly warm.  It was nearly sixty degrees here in this New England town on December 6th.

Anyway, it was overcast and moist, but we did not get rained on when we walked.  We went to the Greenfield's Market co-op for lunch and to buy some groceries for dinner.  Juno and Freyja used their allowance money from Saturday to purchase some Oskri Coconut bar treats and Juno got a Very Veggie juice for herself.  They went to the counter by themselves and counted their money, etc.  This is great experience with money/math!  Then, we stopped at the World Eye Bookstore and Freyja got a YoYo with the rest of her money.

Afterward, we walked to the Greenfield Public Library to get some books, as if we don't already have a ton.  Luckily, my mom came to pick us up, because we would not have enjoyed our walk home with all those groceries and books in tow.

Today, Juno also used the Dragon Naturally Speaking software we got.  She is "training" it to recognize her speech.  Then, she can dictate writing onto Microsoft Office.  She seems to enjoy the program.  I have not gotten to try it yet.

Tonight was Kosho night, and my girls and our housemates' girls, plus one more little girl, had Kosho class in the playroom.  See my Novemer 29th post for links about Kosho.  After Kosho, there was dinner, and then our housemates' girls decorated some gingerbread houses they made a few days ago.  Juno and Freyja got in on the action, too

.

Decoupage Box Day

Today, I got my long awaited chance to make my decoupage/collage box.  First thing this morning, though, the girls got to watch Howl's Moving Castle (the Miyazaki film) again since we finally finished the book last night.  After that, we did some math and spelling work.

At about 1:30pm, our friends Kim and Marisa came over and we got right to work on our boxes.  I have a lot of scraps saved from years of scavenging and collecting paper products.  I don't like having to store it, but I love being able to pull it out and have fun with it.  I have several boxes full!

We used plain wooden boxes which I got at Michaels craft store.  They were only $1.00 each.  Next time, I might try the papier mache boxes they sell.  The project would probably turn out pretty much the same.  I completely forgot to take photos the whole time our friends were here, so I don't have photos of their finished boxes.

However, here are our finished boxes.
This one is the one Juno made.

 

This is Freyja's finished box.



                       

And here is my finished box.

 This was a great project for children and grownups as well.  It kept us occupied for a couple of hours straight.

Catch you on the flip-side.

Tully Lake

Today Noah had the day off work, so we went with him to Tully Lake to play disc golf.  Noah actually played and I hiked around with him.  Freyja explored nature and Juno did too, plus tossed the discs a bit with her dad.  They really had a great time.  It was very  nice outside, even though it was quite chilly.  The girls enjoyed it so much, they have asked to go every Sunday.  I don't know if we can do that, but it was great that they had fun outdoors.

After that, we drove back to Greenfield and took the girls to the YMCA to swim with Noah.  I got time to do a workout and that made me feel quite nice by the time I was finished.  I got to relax a bit and listen to Pride and Prejudice after I finished working out, too.

Then, we came back home and dropped the gals off so we could go shopping for something for dinner.  Freyja played XBox Kinectimals and Juno read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.  After dinner, the girls got ready for bed, and I read the rest of Howl's Moving Castle to them.  We finally finished!  We would have probably finished much sooner if we had been able to read every night, but Noah had also read Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett  at bedtime to them during the same time period.  So, I didn't get to read every night.

So, that was our day today.  Lots of fun.  Tomorrow, we are going to have company in the afternoon.  Our friends, Kim and Marisa, are coming to do crafts with us!

Saturday Afternoon at the Rumpus Craft Fair

Today, so far, Juno made a ghostie-doll and has been doing a lot of reading to herself.


Freyja used the Snap-Circuits set for quite some time this morning making different things with it.  Here are a few photos.

                                                                                                                   
                                             

Later on in the day, we attended a very nice craft fair at a school called The Greenfield Center School.  I have no idea why that is the name , because it is nowhere near the center of Greenfield.

 The girls were thrilled because there were free pony rides!  This was the first time they got to ride ponies.  They got right on and loved every minute.  It was lucky we got there when we did, because Juno and Freyja were almost the last ones to get rides.

There were also some great crafts for kids to do in the school itself.  There were tables set up in each of the rooms and a band was in one room playing what sounded like fun music, but I didn't get to sit in there for very long.

Freyja made a snake out of beads and Juno made a little basket and a flip-flop out of duct tape.  That occupied them for quite a long time.



After they finished their projects, we went to the actual craft tables in another building.  There were so many lovely objects.  I wanted them all.  Too bad that craft fairs proliferate in the season when I have no expendable cash.  Still, we spoke to many of the craftpersons and Freyja tried out some tops.  I took one of the woodworker's business cards just in case I can call her up for a top later on, since Freyja really likes them.

One woman, who was selling fabulous hand-made books, gave Freyja a tiny little book.  Score!  I totally want to make some paste paper (which is the decoration on the front of the book) sometime soon.  I also think we will make some little books.  I actually have a book out of the library right now about book making.  It is called Making Handmade Books 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms.  Very nice book.

We had a look at one table where there were all sorts of boxes (mostly of papier mache) covered in collage/decoupage.  I thought they were awesome.  So, that gave me some ideas for our wooden boxes.  I can hardly wait to start making them.  I sure hope I can do it on Monday.  Here is a site I found with some directions for making a collage/decoupage box (with a photo example) that looks very nice.

So, we had a great time browsing the crafts.  I was impressed by all the great things people were making.  Mostly because they are exactly the kind of things I would make.  Do make.  Sometimes...

Afterward, we went home for a while and had some food.  Then, we went over to my mom's apartment to watch a movie and eat popcorn and play with her little dog, Mea.

Okay, so now it is really late at  night and I am going to sleep.

Gooooood night!

What we did on Friday...

 I was washing the laundry all day on Friday, still.  That is finished washing now.  We will use this opportunity to get rid of some excess kid clothing, etc. Since it seems we have an awful lot of it.

Yesterday  morning, Freyja and Juno both watched How It's Made for about 3 episodes.  They learn a lot about manufacturing processes.  I can tell, because Freyja makes up manufacturing processes when she is thinking about how she would go about  making things herself.

Then Freyja used the computer to play Cool Math Games for Kids.  She started out with a jigsaw puzzle of a beach scene.  Then she played games.  Yesterday, she finally finished the entire game of Factory Balls 2 and was psyched.  I dare you to try it yourself and see how tricky it is.  It requires some serious thinking/logic skills.

Juno used the computer, too, for a while yesterday.  I think she also played Cool Math for Kids games.  Then they both spent time playing in the afternoon and reading with our housemates children.  I was gone for a bit, when I came back home, Freyja had done some sort of very messy experiment with fresh cranberries.  What a mess.  Not only that, they also ate some pomegranates and the housemates' children and their friend ate some more pomegranates.   You do not want to know what kind of mess I saw when I got back from downtown.  Eeek.

So, yesterday, my mom bought me an early Christmas present.  She got Dragon Naturally Speaking basic for me since it was on sale at BJ's.  I have wanted this for a while.  Juno has really wanted it, too, since she does not touch type yet, but loves to tell stories and talk.  So, it is really a family gift.  I am hoping to have the girls use it to do some creative writing.  It works with Microsoft Office to turn your voice to text.  That should be fun.  Maybe I can use it for blogging...  I dunno.  I am pretty fast at typing, but the Dragon software says it is 3 times faster, so maybe.

Before bedtime, we read another chapter of Howl's Moving Castle, by Dianna Wynne Jones.  While I did that, Freyja used a Potholder loom to make a potholder she has been working on.  She is almost done!  Excuse the weird photos lately.  I think my camera flash is broken and I am having to edit them to make them look okay.  Maybe it is not broken and I am just broken, but we'll see.

Juno had a look at some stamps we are thinking of purchasing.  I have wanted to get the girls interested in stamp collecting, so I ordered a big stamp catalog from Mystic Stamp Company.  They sent some stamps with it "on approval" even though I didn't agree to this.  I maybe just missed where they wrote that part of the deal, but I think it was a little sneaky.  However, since I actually do want stamps, I will go along with it.  So if you order a catalog, beware.

That being said, I remember doing this as a kid and loving it (maybe my mom didn't...).  I loved the little Glassine envelopes filled with pretty stamps.  My favorites were from other countries.  I don't still have those stamps, but I still have the memories!  I guess I am the one who wants a stamp collection, but I think Juno and Freyja will love doing it as well.  It will be something we can do together.  I don't plan on having a fussy collection with pre-printed albums to fill in with the correct stamps.  I just want an album with stamps put in to an order we choose.  We can research them, or just enjoy looking.

   

Art from Juno and Freyja

                                                                                                                                                            Here is a comic made by Juno to send to her friend, Destinee.

Here are some drawings made by Freyja.  She says they are Jellyfish Elves.

Thursday

Well, I missed a day blogging, but wait until you hear about yesterday and you will understand, I think.

List of things we did yesterday:

• We got up and had breakfasts, etc.
• Juno and Freyja did their math, spelling/phonics
• Juno read a book called The Shrinking of Treehorn  by Florence Perry Heidi
• The girls took showers.
• After lunch, we went to Keene again to take Juno to the last Harmonica class at Keene Public Library
• We went to Michael's again to get a couple more boxes, because (are you reading this Kim?) we decided to wait to make them until our friends come down for a visit to do some crafting next Monday.
• We went home and had dinner and then found out that the little girl who was over for Kosho yesterday, was found to have lice the next morning!!  
• All the female grownups in the house (my housemate and I) freaked out because we knew we were the ones who would have to do all the defensive work to make sure that we don't all (a house containing 9 persons) get lice.
• I started by washing my children (again) and blow-drying their hair.  I then sat them at my table to draw.  The housemates' children went to bed.
• Freyja decided she wanted to get a  jump start on her math and spelling for the next day, so she did some time worksheets, phonics worksheets, and a spelling worksheet.  Juno thought about it, but decided to wait until today to do her work for today.
• Then, I got busy taking all the pillows, blankets, sheets, etc. off our beds so I could pop them into the dryer for killing anything that might be on them.  I don't know if there was anything, but it makes me feel better to make sure.  The sheets and pillowcases needed washing anyhow, so they got set aside for washing today.
• So, finally I got all the blankets and pillows toasted up and back on the girls' beds and put them to bed.  We watched The Guild: Season 4 and  Star Trek: Enterprise episode 5 on Netflix, and I kept tossing blankets and pillows from around the house into the dryer.
• Then, I finally got to go to bed where I probably should have been the whole time, recuperating from whatever sickness it is that I have.
• I should probably point out that all heads were checked and no one seemed to have any lice.  Heh.

So, that was the excitement of yesterday.  On to today's mischief.

Today, Juno has finished her math and is working on her spelling and has also been writing a letter to her friend, Destinee, whom she met in Harmonica Class.  They really met a long time ago when they were all very little, but us  moms never quite got it together to meet up for play-dates.  We just kept running into each other randomly for years.  Well, we have the address now, and Juno has written a long, illustrated letter to Destinee, complete with a comic strip.  She made a hand made envelope and addressed and stamped it.  Then she went and put it out for the letter carrier to pick up.  She needs to get back to her other pen-pals also.  They are probably looking for letters as well.  

Freyja has spent the morning playing the XBox 360 Kinect.  She was playing Kinect Adventures games at first, and then moved on to her Kinectimals game.  So, she has gotten a lot of exercise this morning.  This is why she wanted to do extra work yesterday; she wanted to play around this morning.

Juno read the book ...If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern, this morning.  I plan to read this to Freyja later on today.

Now it is lunchtime!  Juno is making peanut butter and jam sandwiches for herself and Freyja.  They had some orange juice too, although I did mean to have them eat cucumbers.  I was so busy washing laundry, I forgot...  

Later, they played together with our housemates' enormous tinker-toys.



 And then they did some audio recording for fun.  Telling stories and making silly noises.  You know.

Juno and Freyja read a book together later on.  Freyja did most of the reading.  Juno helped her if she did not know a word.  The book is called Postcards from Russia by Helen Arnold.

It is almost time for dinner, and after that, I have plans to read more from Howl's Moving Castle to the girls for bedtime.

Catch you on the flip-side!