Auntie Elisha's Wedding Gift

 Elisha and Clay got married Oct. 4th. We were all so exited for them, specially Elisha being the last one in the family (Berg side) to get married. Anyhow, Elisa (my 6 yr old) decides she wants to make auntie Elisha a gift, the night before, just from her because she doesn't feel like the gift is from her if we were the ones who bought it. Elisa decides she wants to sculpt a flower pot for her auntie because she knows that auntie Elisha loves to grow flowers. We decided to let her because we always tend to say "there's no time", or "it's too messy"... when she has asked to make crafts before.
Well, David did most of the sculpting of course. He mixed the plaster and poured it onto the plate that we were trying to use to make a cast out of for the final plate. Then Elisa would spread the plaster to cover the plate. She did the same with the bowl...

The casting didn't really work very well. It just stuck to the "final product" but David found a way to make the plate and the bowl. After that, Elisa worked on getting it painted. This was her favorite part! She did this all by her self and was so proud of it.

 Then we painted it with a glossy coat (of nail polish) to make it nice and shiny. She waited for it to dry... then we got impatient and decided to have her blowdry it. Then I taught her how to wrap a gift. So she did. At last came the very best part for her. She asked auntie Elisha if she could open it right at the wedding. Auntie Elisha, being so sweet and sensitive, agreed.

  (I took this pic from the stairs.)

Elisa was just so happy when auntie Elisha saw her gift and expressed how much she liked it. I was glad to catch it on the camara because I just never seem to be ready when sweet moments happen, just like I didn't take a pic of the sculpting process of the pot and plate. It took me a while to realize "maybe this is a moment I should be taking a picture of"... lol
Thank you, Elisha, for being so sweet and taking the time to appreciate Elisa's gift right at your wedding reception. You have so much love and patience, specially for little ones. Love you and I pray and know that your marriage will be blessed and very FUN! haha specially with a husband like Clay.

Book It



(Elisa age 5 and Lucia 3 mths)



Today I read my sister in law (Susanna)'s post about "Fostering a Love for Reading". I loved it because I feel very much the same way. Two nights ago I started a program that Susy had recomended which is Book It! It's a reading reward program through Pizza Hut. In a nut shell, you set a monthly goal, if the child meets that goal you give them a reward certificate for a free personal 1 topping pizza. As I was saying, we started it and she began with reading Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.

She loved it so much, she didn't stop reading after the 30 mins were up (which is our goal for each night)... She finnished the whole book that night. The deal we have is she reads 30 mins to my (almost) 2 yr old, Lucia, and then Lucia goes to bed and Elisa gets her bedtime story read, which right now is Charlotte's Web.

Now she'll be reading

Stellaluna,

 The Little Engine that Could,

and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.

And she'll be read

Pinocchio

When she's done with those I'll post the next one.

I couldn't take a pic of us snuggled up while she was reading to Lucia the other day so I uploaded an old pic of her reading (trying to, and making it up) Strawberry Shortcake to Lucia when they were younger.

Music Appreciation

An amazing way to teach (and learn yourself) music appreciation is through this AMAZING site I ran into:
http://www.classicsforkids.com/

I was looking for the best way to teach Elisa about diferent composers and their music but I didn't know much about this myself. So, I looked up different things like: Teach children music, composers for kids, etc... Until I found this website, which I think is perfect because it goes by a composer per month and does a radio show (podcast) per week talking about the composer, his music, the time period he was in, etc... It also offers a quiz on the composer, a timeline, lesson plans for parents who homeschool, activity sheets, music to listen to, info on instruments, and games.

It's great to listen to the shows as a whole family because I'm sure everyone in the family can get alot of of it. We have listened to some even with my husband, before he left in the morning, and we all enjoyed it. I started with Johann Strauss Jr. and loved it!!!

Catching Up

I decided to make a list of topics I'd like to blog about so I can catch up on my blogging. I'll be adding to the list continuously as I remember.
List
Beginning of school year
Summer Vacation
Hands On Museum
Elisa's Water Baptism
Elisha's Wedding Gift from Elisa
Meeting new friends (Appolonia and her family)
Working on the House
Reasons why I love to Homeschool (ongoing blog)
www.classicsforkids.com
Elisa's 1st sleepover with Sarah Smith
Homeschooler's friends, best friends and acquaintances,

I've gotta get moving... :|

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due.

Starting a blog is one of the many things I've decided to do after being inspired by a very special person. Well, I just felt that before I get deep into posting blog after blog I need to give a little credit to whom deserves it. Susy Richmond, my sister in-law, has inspired me because she has managed to homeschool her 6 yr old very efficiently while keeping her supplies neatly in their place, keeps a house very well, takes care of adventureous twins, cooks amazing dishes, teaches at a co-op, takes the time to do on-hand activities with her kids, and then manages to write a blog about their life. Talk about inspiring! Anyhow, After spending some time with them a few weekends ago I decided to simply follow her way of doing things and I should be safe, right? I mean, if her method seems to be working so well for her, why shouldn't it work for me? So I decided to spend the next few days studying the Charlotte Mason way of homeschooling (which is what she uses), ordering the books it requires, calling her dozens of times for info and advice, making a weekly calendar similar to hers (a whole planning book quite like hers to be more exact), etc. To make the story short, I've pretty much decided it'd be much funner to go through things together, good or bad, specially having daughters in the same grade. I'm really looking forward to this school yr and am having lots of fun already!
Thanks Susy, it's great to have a sister in law like you!!! (My other sister in-laws are great too ofcourse)