Posted by Cindy on December 20, 2007
I know I gush often about our Keepers At Home Group, but it really is a wonderful thing! Yesterday we took a break from “practical” stuff to party!
Each of the girls was asked to prepare a dish and bring the recipe. (We’re putting the recipes together in a little booklet for them.) After reading the Christmas story together and snacking on the delicious goodies, each of the moms had prepared a fun game.
Besides a rather unfortunate incident with the girls’ brothers who were playing outside with stick swords, the day was great fun. Yes, Caleb was involved, but it really was an accident. Hopefully, a bit more ice and a little more time will heal the giant goose egg under the other boy’s eye. Caleb was very worried about him and didn’t think twice about apologizing. (Hey, that’s a pretty big step for him!) Here’s what I overheard Caleb say after ice had been on the goose egg for about 20 minutes….”Can you open your eye? How many fingers am I holding up?” T, if you’re reading this – we hope your eye is better!
Anyway, back to the party. Mahayla prepared a very yummy cheesball and Caleb made a chocolate fondue with marshmallows for dipping.
I missed out on most of the games because of the unfortunate incident, but here’s a picture from the gift wrapping relay.
We’re officially on Christmas break! I had planned to school lightly through Friday, but sometimes life just calls for a change of plans. 
Merry Christmas!
Posted by Cindy on December 19, 2007
Here’s the latest edition of the Westward Gazette.
Posted by Cindy on December 18, 2007
Here’s a peek at our Christmas Lapbooks that we finished last week. Mahayla’s is red, Caleb’s is green. We used many activities from the Symbols of Christmas lapbook unit from Hands of a Child. All the extra math/logic/problem solving worksheets, plus some science worksheets were stapled together inside the large panel on the right side. This keeps all the unit work together in a nice, neat package.
This week is light. We’re working on math everyday, putting together our newsletter and just having some Christmas craft and baking fun. At the end of the week, we’ll be officially halfway through our school year! And on a well deserved break for a couple of weeks.
Posted by Cindy on December 17, 2007
The first year with my other two didn’t go this fast. Everybody always says, “Where did the time go?” But I really mean it. How is it possible that my wee one has been with us a year already??
What a precious little boy he is. He loves to snuggle and he thinks he needs to be a part of every piece of action that comes around. There’s a lot of action in this house! He’s my constant helper as I try to fold clothes and cook with one hand. He’s also my shower companion – peeking in every few seconds to be sure I haven’t been pulled into the drain, I suppose. He never has been a very good sleeper unless in my arms. I feel very sad that it’s time to work on that again. There’s just something about holding a sleeping baby.
He’s just on the verge of walking and actually took two steps to me the other day without having any idea what he had just done. He tells us all the time about dada on the tata (tractor) and wants to tu (touch) the baoo (ballon) whenever he sees one. He loves his iee (sissy), bubub (brother) and papa, but I know he loves his nana (me) best of all. Soon, his preferences may change, but for now I’m his favorite and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I’ll admit that his sister runs a close second.
Lately, one of his favorite things to do is to hang out with the boys (Daddy and Caleb) every evening as they crash toy cars. I can hear him laugh all the way downstairs as his brother (dramatically, I’m sure) sends cars flying all over the bedroom. And wrestling – what is it with boys and wrestling? Eli loves when Caleb gently wrestles with him. After he’s been with Caleb for a few minutes, Mahayla and I have to block ourselves so Eli can’t use his new moves on us.
He has a sweet tooth. I’ve known that for awhile. He can pick out a candy bar a mile away! There’s no hiding chocolate from him. When he sees it, his eyes brighten and he starts bouncing with his little hands reaching into the air. He’s chanting something along the lines of “uh hu, uh hu, uh hu”, which I’m assuming means, “Yes, please, I’d like some.” Never mind that no one offered to share. So, at his party yesterday, there were no problems diving into the cupcake. He went at it like he’s eaten cupcakes his whole little life. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he thought he’d like another. His daddy and siblings were very upset that I didn’t think a one-year-old need TWO cupcakes, but they agreed after I mentioned that they were welcome to stay up with him all night if they liked.
Trying to treasure this time while keeping up with my older two has proven to be very tough for me. I remember the sweet early days with my oldest when time stood still. I could cuddle and play as long as needed – a few chores and fixing dinner were about the extent of my “other” responsibilities. This time around has been much harder. Bigger kids bring bigger responsibilities. On top of cuddling, there’s school work, plenty of big kid laundry, big kid activities, lots of grocery shopping and such. Just trying to give everyone the attention they need and deserve has been hard.
One of my good friends once said, “I don’t feel human again until my children turn eighteen months. It’s like I live in some sort of foggy funk. Then they turn eighteen months and, poof, I am normal again.” I think I know what she means. I’m beginning to see out of the fog, but it hasn’t all lifted yet. I wouldn’t trade baby days for the world, and I’m certainly not wishing my children to grow faster than they already are, but it will be nice to feel normal again. I hear some of you laughing and saying, “Girl, nothing is ever normal again with three kids!”
But for now, I’m just going from day to day trying to soak in every bit of a cuddly and busy one-year-old, an active and ever-so-funny seven-year-old and a sweet, sensitive and ever-so-helpful almost eleven-year-old. The laundry can wait.
Posted by Cindy on December 14, 2007
We finished our astronomy unit this week! The kids spent a couple of days preparing final projects and presented them in front of the video camera on Thursday. They were able to choose whatever astronomy topic most interested them. It’s no surprise that Caleb chose astronauts as his topic. Mahayla focused on stars.
Caleb’s presentation included a talk about astronaut suits (see his helmet and jet pack?), space shuttles, rockets, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, dehydrated food and thrust.
Mahayla’s presentation included information about the sun, other notable stars, constellations, how to use an astronometer to tell the brightness of stars and some information about light years.
We used Exploring Creation With Astronomy as our main text, and also added in a few lapbooking activities and lots of hands on projects. I put what we had into modified lapbooks. The lapbooking activities were glued on the first flap, while the notebooking pages were simply stapled together at the top of the other side.
Our trip to the Answers In Geneis Creation Museum’s Planetarium earlier this year was a great addition to this unit!
Here are a few of the fun website games the kids enjoyed during the unit.
Solar System Trading Cards
Problems in Space
Make Your Own Solar System
