Backyard Bounty: Carrots

 I walked out to the garden today and came back inside with a handful of carrots. It was such a pleasant surprise! Carrots picked fresh out of the garden smell simply divine. We just couldn't resist eating a few as soon as they were washed.

Preschool at Home: Week 9

This week we learned about the letter "I," the number 9, and that's about it. There was no nursery rhyme or specific Bible story. 

It was a pretty low key week around here as far as structured learning goes. 

Here's a look at our board for the week:

 

 We made an ice cream cone using a lower case "i."

 We put nine stickers on the number nine.

 We played Number Bingo using the numbers 1 to 24.

 We'll be practicing this a lot more!

 

I found some banana split window decals a few months ago at Mighty Dollar. 

The boys loved assembling lots of fun treats on the door.

  

It was the perfect week to focus on the word ice, because we had some really cold days. One day we poured water into ice cube trays and then examined if the water was frozen a little later.

 We went on an icicle hunt one morning and found lots of them everywhere.

 Next week we are focusing on the letter "J," the number 10, 

Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, and "Jack Be Nimble" and "Jack and Jill" along with some other things.

Preschool at Home: Week 8

This past week we studied the letter "H," the number 8,

 the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" as well as some other things.

 Here's a look at our board:

 

We made a house using the letter H.

 We covered a lower case h with hearts.

 

We played with our remote control helicopter 

(thanks Aunt Amy and Uncle Adam).

 

We didn't do a whole lot with the number 8 this week, 

but we did practice number recognition by playing Chutes and Ladders. 

  

We learned "Humpty Dumpty" and acted it out using some props. 

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall...

 Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

 

 All the king's horses and all the king's men 

couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.

  

We read quite a bit about Moses this week 

and we focused on singing Hallelujah, Praise Ye The Lord.

 Silas is also enjoying learning time! Take a look at that pencil grip!

 

This was the first week that Seth could actually remember what sound the letter we were studying made and could also identify it when you said a word that began with an "h" sound. Previously, I didn't really put a lot of emphasis on this, but Seth is really interested in what signs and billboards say right now, and will ask what sound certain letters make on those signs. Since he's showing a lot of interest, we'll probably start doing more activities that relate to the sounds.

This coming week we'll be learning about the letter "I."

Our Burmese Friends

In the middle of our city, in a humble apartment complex,

magical things are happening.

 

Look for the shoes, if you wish to find us.

 Because inside the homes of our Burmese friends, who graciously welcome us in,

 friendships are being formed,

 

the Bible is being shared, 

language is becoming less of a barrier,

 and lessons are being learned by everyone involved. 

I can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday morning.

{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

beautiful, yet simple, things that I'm so thankful for. 

Today I'm grateful

for a simple homemade snowflake that adorns our door...

 

 for kale growing in the front planter boxes....

for playing board games with the whole family...

 

 for spaghetti squash because it's so amazingly interesting after it's cooked...

 for the start of a Wednesday morning Bible study...

 

 and for a handful of eggs that our girls lay every day.

  

{Inspired by Today's Letters}

Every Dollar Counts

 

(fair trade, organic, and dairy free chocolate  that has an A rating in The Better World Shopping Guide) 

Ignorance could be bliss. It could be so easy to sit back and act like I don’t care, but I just can’t do that. I do care. A LOT. I made a resolution this year to be more intentional about the purchases that I make. I feel like we as a family have made huge strides in support of the local food movement.  But what about all the other everyday purchases that we make?  I’ve learned over the past few months that even the smallest shifts in our spending can make a significant difference in the lives of people producing the products we buy. Sometimes that shift requires a bit of research or an adjustment to our finances. Sometimes it’s not as convenient and we certainly can’t change everything instantly. Transition takes time. Little by little we can use the dollars we spend on things we buy every day to help empower others in this big beautiful world of ours.

A few days ago I purchased the kindle edition of The Better World Shopping Guide. This little book packs a punch and I might never be the same. I spent the boys’ entire nap time one day reading the book from cover to cover. It’s mostly in list form, but I was anxious to know how the purchases we commonly make rank within the categories of human rights, the environment, animal protection, community involvement, and social justice. Thankfully, since we have so dramatically changed the foods we eat and the way we now live, we don’t support most of the big companies that are causing so much harm. My goal this year is to shop with purpose more consistently. I want to help more than I hurt. You might be thinking, does my spending even matter? I think it does. I love this quote from one of my favorite bloggers, Heather Hendrick, who said it way better than I ever could, “Any time we choose to buy a fair trade product, an item second-hand, or eggs from a local farm, we've not only used our money to vote for people, environmental health, and communities - we've provoked a tangible shift in commerce.” So I’ll be searching high and low for that fair trade symbol on packages, shopping locally whenever possible, doing my research about the places I shop and the things I buy, and supporting those precious farmers who provide us with more sustainable, quality foods. I am going to do my part to try to make every dollar count!

Preschool at Home: Week 7

It feels like it's been forever since I've posted about our learning, but this week we got back into the swing of things. We studied the letter g, the number 7, focused on David and Goliath, learned the song My God is So Big, and lots of other fun things. Here's a look at our board this week (which does include some crafts from library story time, church, and our winter celebration, too):

For our Bible story this week we read about David and Goliath. We also made our own David and Goliath using a toilet paper roll, an old paper canister, and this printable.

  

I did find Seth's choice of coloring very amusing.

  

Then we took a stroll outside to find five smooth stones.

  

Then we reenacted David defeating Goliath. Seth had an absolute blast with this!

 

We made a guitar out of the letter G.

 We read and watched The Gruffalo. 

(Both the book and DVD were at  our local library.)

 We also read The Three Billy Goats Gruff

 

and then made a paper plate goat.

We played some golf with our new set of clubs from Papa and Granna.

  

We also went on a color hunt around the house looking for items that were green. 

It was nice to get back into our routine of learning. 

Next week we will move onto the letter "H."

Winter Celebration 2013

Today we invited some friends over to help us celebrate winter. Because the first day of winter usually gets overshadowed by all the Christmas festivities, we celebrate with friends during the first part of January. (You can see how we celebrated last year here.)

We started off our celebration by making snowmen out of foam.

 We enjoyed fruit, Paleo chocolate zucchini muffins, and snowman boxed juices.

 We made Borax snowflakes.

 

 

We also built a snowman and snow woman out of felt.

 

 

It was a super fun morning! 

Happy Winter!

Local Bounty: Asian Greens

We picked up these Asian greens from Sunny Point Gardens at the farmers' market Saturday. I didn't know exactly how I was going to use them, but you all know by now that new-to-me foods excite me. Alan Davis let us sample them at the market and they have a very mild mustard taste in my opinion. I added them to a salad earlier in the week, but then yesterday I added them to a "riced" cauliflower stir-fry. They added such a delightful flavor. If you get a chance, try them!