Dipping Candles

Our co-op makes for such an enjoyable day. This week Sapphire learned about the sense of touch and practiced counting using nursery rhymes. Pearl played store with her math class (but it is so much fun she does not realize it is a math class) and worked with maps in geography.

In second period I taught the 2nd and 3rd graders about the history of candle making, including a look at 19th century whaling (candles from whale heads!), and we dipped our own candles. It could have been very messy, but the girls were just great.

My girls love to wear their Chinese dresses. This week they wore them to church. We had an emotional children's sermon; the kids prayed for the littlest ones' Sunday School teacher who left directly for the airport and his officer basic training. It ended in a ferocious group hug that could have easily tipped him over.

The little ones don't fully understand where he went. In her thank you note, Sapphire had me dictate "I hope you armor fits."

And, just as an update, Sapphire has added a line when she offers grace: "Help our house not to blow up." We feel like just about everything is covered by the time we are done praying.

Pearl and I had the chance to visit our newest family gem in Lancaster County. We established that Pearl is, according to my husband's family term, a baby hog. She would be content to hold her cousin all afternoon. What sweeties!

Crafting in the New Year

 

The Christmas break is really over now and we are back to school here. We've begun testing some projects for our upcoming co-op semester, including candle dipping. It did not make nearly the mess I anticipated, but it does take a long time to melt wax.  The two big girls *loved* it. Sapphire ran around holding her little unlit, lumpy candle all evening.












Pearl asked to learn more about the Holy Lands since she is going to join her daddy's tour group in a few months. We're making a unit study out of it, so she is learning the science of the Dead Sea's salinity, the geography of the region, and the history of some of the sites she will see.  We also used this as an excuse to watch Ben Hur.







We have a few other projects knocking around, including this fun Christmas gift. The girls like delivering mail to themselves through the mailbox. 

And this is a gift I made for myself. I've wanted Victorian-style silhouettes of the girls for ages, and I decided it was time to make them before their little girl chubby cheeks had all disappeared. 

For those of you looking for an update on Sapphire's prayer life, I asked her why she felt the need to pray for unpoisoned food. She said she thought maybe some Bad Guys would sneak into the house and poison our food.  I am relieved that she wasn't suspecting me.