Children of the King Sunday, 2014

Our girls have been rehearsing songs and learning lines since way back in May or earlier.  A gifted woman at our church wrote a musical and titled it "Jonah and the Worm," and the big performances took place on Sunday. Twenty five children participated, and here they are lined up before the show.





Pearl was a pirate captain with a solo, and she loved her role. All the kids did a marvelous job, largely because of all the rehearsing and encouragement the adult leaders offered throughout the summer.

We met once a week for practice, and the kids formed such a sweet bond with each other as they worked together.











Sapphire was a fish diva who spent some time with Jonah in the belly of the whale.  She was very tickled with her blue costume and headdress.  I have to think there is a especially golden mansion in heaven for people who volunteer to wrangle ten preschoolers backstage, costuming, feeding, and entertaining them until it is time for their cues.
















The girls love their co-op, and this week Sapphire showed off the coral reef she created out of play dough.

Harvest Moon Festival

The girls enjoyed the York Fair's 4-H petting zoo.  Sapphire kept asking to hold different kittens, guinea pigs, and rabbits, while Pearl preferred to lull her kitten to sleep.  She did eventual switch to a guinea pig.

We also popped in to see the circus, which had Sapphire squealing in delight. The trapeze act especially thrilled them. The tricks on the rope swing at home have jumped up a notch or two since that show.

Sapphire also followed her co-op teacher's advice and found the hatching chicks. This is mesmerizing, as is the slippery duckling slide.  

Later in the week we attended the local FWCC group's Harvest Moon Festival. We learned that the Chinese see a rabbit, not a man in the moon.  The girls made lanterns.  

Just this week we had our two year visit from the adoption agency.  They report back to China on Ruby's progress.  It went smoothly. 

Our Sunday service was a ground-breaking ceremony for the new building.  Daniel and several others had been planning this for weeks, and it was very moving. I helped by updating the eighteenth-century language from a Covenanter's Oath so that it would be readable today.  In effect, we took the same oath the original church members took back in the 1700s.

The kids are plugging away at their musical practice. This week was tech week, and the performances are on Sunday.  

Birthday Girls

This is our week of birthday bonanza.  Looking back at all these photos of cakes, cupcakes, and ice cream sandwiches, I realize that we did plenty to celebrate the double birthdays of Sapphire (now 5) and Ruby (now 4).

Thank you to our families for being there for these special events!

Thank goodness the grandmothers  created such nice birthday cake experiences. After a busy weekend, I felt wiped out and creatively stumped, but the ice cream sandwich worked perfectly and disappeared speedily.

Sapphire is old enough now to have a little friend party too, and she was thrilled to have a new buddy come over. They seemed to get along very well.  

The big hits this year, for the record, were Frozen items and My Little Ponies.  Pearl and I found a treasure this summer at a yard sale. We filled a bag with ponies at 25 cents each.  They are now strewn all over my living room, but the memory of the deal is satisfying, at least. 

First Day of School, 2014

The countdown is over, and the school year has started at Field Stone Academy, my current, imaginary name for our home school. The girls were eager to start today, and we had one very excited little kindergartener who did just great. A preschooler popped up at the homeschool table after I had sent her sisters off to play, and she wanted a little lesson, so we worked on making her letters. 

Having two kids at the table at the same time is a new experience for me. After this morning Pearl said she wanted to do more with me and less reading on her own, but Sapphire needs lots of attention, so let's hope Pearl learns to embrace her independence. 

Yesterday we spent the afternoon by the creek, and some of us were in the creek too.  Sapphire did *not* jump off the rock, nor did she ask if she was allowed to jump. She just climbed it for the view.