Mothers Day with Three

I had the best Mothers Day ever this year. It is my first Mothers Day as mommy to three little girls, and I enjoyed that as I held Ruby on my hip during worship on Sunday.  It is also the first year that I spent some time shopping for my own Mothers Day gifts, so I got just what I wanted.  Plus, as my husband reminded me, I'm headed to Scandinavia, and he wanted that to count for Mothers Day too. As I think about it, this may have been the best Mothers Day I am ever likely to have!

The day started early with a Mothers Day breakfast at church, and the Youth Group ran it very smoothly with lots of hugs for the moms. Here's Sapphire, the early riser, helping to set the table shortly after we arrived that morning.

We had friends over for lunch, and in the evening everyone but Sapphire (who fell asleep on the couch at 6pm) lounged around and watched Dr. Who.







On Jasper's day off we thought we'd explore Rocky Ridge Park without the Christmas lights. It is much less garish this way (every other time we've been there it has been to see the over-the-top Christmas light display).

The girls climbed as many rocks as they could, plus some playground toys and a few sign posts.







We've also seen a breakthrough this week in Sapphire's desire to write. For someone who would rather stare at a blank coloring page than draw on it, it seemed like she might wait to make her letters, but this week she's been writing them everywhere. "Look at my beautiful E" she'll say proudly. I noticed that Pearl is a kind and helpful assistant teacher when my hands are covered in flour and someone needs to know which way an "F" points.

The packages with Pearl's 2nd grade material arrived this week, so I got a look at the general curriculum that guides us through the year. I started reading the big girls the *Life of Fred* math book right away, and they seem to find the silly stories of math application entertaining. We read the first 7 chapters at one go, so that was a good sign. I'm not quite sure how Pearl will handle an increase in structured writing and seat time next year. She is so in love with her imaginative play time; tying her down to a table, even for brief bits of work, seems like a burden to her.

I feel a little tied to a desk lately. I'm trying to write a new chapter on the Biblical information available about the Nativity. My editor thought I needed more on that, and when I realized that I had only 4 pages about the first Christmas, I agreed.  Fast forward to a crash course in Greco-Roman Judea, Herod the Great, and the Roman census, and the challenge of making that history upbeat and palatable for non-historian audiences. At least I'll have an informed proofreader when Jasper takes a look at it.

I know it is late, but Happy Mothers Day!

We

Is this Nature?

We've resumed our nature walks now that the weather is manageable. I had great plans of taking them all winter, but it is hard to see beauty when it is drizzly and freezing.  Last week we enjoyed Jasper's day off with a visit to Storytime at the library then a long picnic and walk on the Mason Dixon Trail. I guess it was about time, since Sapphire posed the question, "Are rocks nature?"

We quickly found a picnic spot close to the water. Ruby hunkered down to enjoy the food while the others enjoyed the creek.  Ruby takes her food seriously and won't let any view--no matter how glorious--disturb her at her work. 


.

Sapphire didn't have time for food with so many rocks to climb (big surprise) and she only partly fell in.  She also began her career as a trail runner by running ahead of us most of the way

We took some special shots of Pearl to commemorate her 1st grade year.  We didn't have any professional school photos taken this year, but what could be better than this?









We ended up using the walk to teach the girls about some local plants.  At first this backfired; Sapphire hugged the middle of the path and nervously pointed to any plant asking, "Is that poison? Is that?"  Soon she was able to identify poison ivy own her own.  Pearl captured these photos.

 

 

Pearl has continued to practice her addition and subtraction, and we finished our weeks of studying the continents with a week on Australia and a few days on Antarctica.  We watched some documentaries about Australian wildlife and I read aloud a very uncomfortable book about Antarctic explorers who at best only got frostbite and at worst didn't make it back to base camp.  We are nearly done our science book, and we are waiting to see how bendy our chicken bone has become during its weeks in the salt and vinegar solution. Pearl has found a series of fairy books she really enjoys reading to herself, and she treated me to a read-aloud this afternoon. She's come a long way in the last year.   



Downtown

Last week Pearl and I had an afternoon to ourselves, so we ventured into York's downtown.  I realized I hadn't been there in six years (wonder why?) when I found a now long-established soap shop where the bead shop used to be.

Pearl expressed some discomfort with the city at first--so many strangers all around.  I realize that our life in the country and small town shopping does make the transition to city life jarring.  Maybe we should experience it more often!

We lunched at Central Market and enjoyed crowd watching, then we strolled down the street to see some shops before ending up in the York Arts gallery. 

Pearl had expressed an interest in going to an art museum, and this tiny one room gallery seemed like a good introduction without making a long drive to an even bigger city.  She told me she really liked it. She didn't want to hear any of the gallery notes (which I like to read), but she flitted from picture to picture, trying to find her favorites.  We walked down the block to their annex to see some high school art. 

She was tickled when she pointed out and identified this van Gogh representation. I was a little shocked she remembered the brief study we did on him.

We popped into some shops and she benefited from a measuring lesson from the lady who runs the mini soap factory next to the market. She also got to try out a spinning wheel in another shop.  When someone asked if she was out of school for the day, we told them this was her school for the day!


Next we made our way to the hopping big city library where she read her Kirsten book and played their kid games and I collected some books for this week's study of Australia.



Sapphire spent the day with Miss D, and they baked some really tasty cupcake cones.

A few days later I had a chance to visit the local curriculum fair.  I found some great deals on things that I hope will interest the girls in their studies next year.  I've learned not to overdo it, and with space already running out for books and manipulatives, I tried to be choosy.  Some more experienced moms had set up tables just to explain different ways of doing things, and I learned about a few different ways to teach next year's math. I've already found a nice science program with BJU's science.  Those are my two weak points, and I do want to balance our super humanities household with something on the other side of the brain.

bowling with the youth group and families on Sunday

Finally, here is the promised photos of Pearl sans tooth. This only proves that no amount of side chewing and tear-and-eating can keep that last dangly thread from snapping on its own.  It popped out just at the start of church on Sunday, so I finally witnessed the drama of a lost tooth.  Ten minutes later she was over it and proudly showing off her gap.

. 

Waiting for Apple Blossoms

Pearl has been studying Africa lately, and last night she sculpted a salt-dough map of the continent. Tonight she painted it to show the different vegetation zones.  I benefit from so many ideas on the internet, like this one!

 

Sapphire is looking forward to her play date tomorrow with Miss D, an adult friend from church. I have found this relationship to be a real blessing for me.  While I fail to keep Sapphire still in her seat at church, sitting with her pew buddies, she seems able to make it through the whole service without a problem.  It is also nice for a middle child to get such special attention, I think. Here she is at her friend's house earlier this week. They made a fairy garden with live plants, which now graces our kitchen table.

When she got in the car with Miss D. on Sunday for a brief lunch visit, she looked at me dramatically and assured me that "I'll still love you mommy."

Over the weekend they enjoyed a nice meal and one last Easter egg hunt with the grandparents.  Not an egg was left behind!

Sapphire enjoyed tracing her letters and numbers in a cornmeal tray today. She is just figuring out how to hold her pencil, so this is less frustrating.  She's never liked to color with crayons, so it is neat (if a little painful) to see her practicing these new skills.

This weekend my husband will be traveling, and I plan to go to the annual homeschooling curriculum fair. I love picking up bargain workbooks and other idea books, mostly gently used things that other families in the area are ready to pass along. I really can't manage this with three little ones, so they will have a babysitter to entertain Saturday morning while I go book shopping. 

flowering tree at the church

Not a Still Life

We have been outdoors a good bit lately, and here you can see how  my daffodils have been multiplying.  They make a really pretty show in the front bed now.

Yesterday we had our co-op.  One of Pearl's classes is art, and here is a creation from last time we met. 

Because the art teacher was out with a sick child, I taught that class yesterday. We worked on the idea of landscape, still life, and portrait.  Those eight little girls whipped through paper like crazy.  It was all we could do to keep their water refreshed and paper in front of them.

Here is the still life.  She might look longingly at those apples, because she won't bit them.  I've noticed that she has been gnawing her food from the side, and it turns out she is trying to  keep her last front tooth from popping out.  We've already had tears when she noticed the wiggle. 

Last night, while their daddy made a rushed visit to the hospital (to see someone else, not for himself), the girls and I had an impromptu picnic.  We ordered Chinese food for them and sushi for me, and found a very grassy spot beside the creek at York College. We had to experiment with the limited dishes we had available in the car, so here is Ruby eating lo mein from a cup. I think it works better than a plate! While we ate we watched the willow trees wave.  

 "Can I go in the creek?"

After staring longingly at the creek, the girls came along for a celebratory Sweet Frog treat.  Pearl had read her first five chapter books, and this was the reward.  The line at Sweet Frog was amazing. I think I was at the end of a 40 person line, but it moved quickly.  The poppers are the girls' favorite topping. Pearl insisted I take her photo as she popped one. 



Also, we recently watched "The Wizard of Oz" with the two big girls. Note: the talking trees are *not* as scary as I remember them.  Jasper did say that the look on Sapphire's face when the tree slapped Dorothy was one of shock.  The witch is terrifying, but if you watch it all huddled together on a couch, you can get through it.  Pearl says she thought it would be scarier than it was.

April Flowers

I think we can put our hats and heavy coats in the attic now, but here's a last look at a cute gift from Grammy.

We had the chance to celebrate Easter all over again with some friends and their grandchildren. The girls enjoyed taking part in a huge egg hunt. 

We've tried to maximize the warm weather that hit this week. Pearl created a reading nook on the front porch to catch the morning sun, and Sapphire presented herself in her swim suit and demanded pool time. I explained that the baby pool would be staying in the barn for another month at least.

Here we are at the top of the hill above our house. We like to go there and eat ice cream, but I need to stock up on that.  We just took some jellybeans and enjoyed the beautiful light.

Pearl has also developed her own code recently, which Grammy cracked right away.

We are studying Asia now, which is just about the easiest continent to cover. My husband and I have plenty of stories of our travels there, and Pearl's favorite animal is the tiger.  As part of a culinary exploration, Pearl tried bravely tried sushi when she and I had a day out together last week.  The chewy nori was not a hit with her, sadly.  She didn't seem to notice the raw salmon.

Easter 2013

Ruby had a chance to celebrate her first Easter with us. The girls and I drove to Somerset County on Thursday.  This is the view we had during one snowy walk--it is the barn across the field from my grandmother's house.

There were no kittens in the barn when we arrived, but by the next day newborn kittens mewed in the corner.  Instead of begging to spend hours coddling kittens in the barn, Pearl understood that one does not handle such tiny things.  Ruby once again enjoyed viewing the cows but jumped when she found a barn cat three feet away from her.

On Friday we dyed eggs. Sapphire sped through her allotted eight eggs, popping them into and out of the dye cups like an assembly line before asking for more.  Pearl labored over hers lovingly, and Ruby just about got the hang of it, though she still doesn't have her color words down.

On Saturday the other visiting aunts and uncles rolled in, and we got to see some cousins.  The meal was perfect, and Pearl enjoyed some serious Dutch Blitz afterward.

The editor of my Christmas book wants me to acquiesce that while Christmas seems like the high point of the year, Easter is the liturgical pinnacle.  It seems ironic, when Christmas receives so much more build up and attention. 

I spent time last week explaining Easter to Sapphire, and she finally got the gist of it. Otherwise I don't feel like we did a very good job preparing for Holy Week this year, but Easter Sunday helped.  We worshiped with my Church of God Grandmother. The message was about the stone, and how the women who worried about how to move it aside found it all taken care of when they arrived.






Afterward we had a relaxing leftovers meal and lazy afternoon with family. Uncle Alexandrite worked hard to make up to Ruby, and by the end of the weekend she was falling asleep in this great-uncle's lap.


This is the one holiday I consistently celebrate without my husband.  It seems logical, since his duties keep him busy all weekend (four services in four days), and he is fairly wiped out afterward. But being so far west meant we missed seeing some of our other family over Easter; we pray that the joy and victory of Easter would be with you all throughout the year.

There is promise in Christmas, but there is fulfillment in Easter. 

Getting back into our school routine after Pearl's trip to Boston hasn't been easy (read tears), but we are progressing. Today we had a great time at CHAMP, our co-op, and here Pearl is working with her classmates on filling in continent facts they collected. 

She has baulked at reading her chapter books, but today I told her she could read next to me while I napped (CHAMP takes it out of me!), and that's all she needed to plow through half an American Girl book.  She's so social that reading alone is a misery!