{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

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

Lately I've been grateful for...

capturing a beautiful okra blossom...

 

clean sheets and seeing the joy of jumping on mommy and daddy's bed 

while the sheets are being washed...

 

seven eggs in an egg basket...

 well stocked cabinets after a trip to Whole Foods

cool breezes blowing through open windows in July

 

and a basket full of food after a walk in the backyard

 

Local Bounty: Orange Krush Watermelon

I can't say that I have ever tried a yellow/orange watermelon until this weekend. We picked up an Orange Krush Watermelon from Sunny Point Gardens at the market. I have to admit we were expecting the taste to be a little different because of the color, but it tasted the same as other watermelons. We realized, the color doesn't matter much when it comes to watermelons. We love them all!

The Boys' First Nascar Race

What do you do when you're offered four free Nascar Nationwide Race tickets to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (this weekend!) at 4 pm on a Friday afternoon?  

 You secure some ear protection,

 

you pack lots of snacks,

  

and you take off for Indy bright and early Saturday morning.

We arrived about an hour before the race started. The boys were all smiles.

 

 There were so many empty seats, we had great views of the track, 

and the weather was absolutely beautiful!

 

 We tried to prepare the boys for the magnitude of the noise (which we were really worried about since we've been to several Sprint Cup races) but just like with most things, the boys did fine. 

They needed to be next to mama for a minute,

 but then were busy watching the cars, 

especially when they were on pit road right in front of us.

They also loved playing in all the empty seats during the final ten laps.

 We watched Kyle Busch do the burn out and take his bow, and then we headed home.

I think it's safe to say the boys LOVED their first Nascar race and we loved the spontaneous adventure!

Preschool at Home: Week 20

This past week we studied the letters "Y" and "Z." We also focused on the number 20 and read about Zacchaeus from the Bible. Here's a look at our board:

  

We made a yak out of the letter "Y."

 We practiced coloring and writing the word zebra.

 

We picked up this cute book from the library this week and 

it was a perfect book to review all of the letters from A to Z.

 We went on a letter hunt in the backyard. Seth loves these!

 

 We read about Zacchaeus and how he climbed in a tree to see Jesus. So we made our own little Zacchaeus and tree craft using this printable. We also practiced singing Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man.

 

 I picked up four packages of tiny blocks at Mighty Dollar last weekend. They have been the best $4 I have spent in a while. I added them to a plastic storage container and they have entertained both boys all week. We stack and build with these tiny blocks, but we also used them for a math activity. Using sidewalk chalk, I wrote the numbers on our sidewalk. Then we counted out the correct number of blocks for each number.

 I was amazed we made it all the way to 20, but we did.

 So we've made it through the entire alphabet again. Where do we go from here? In the next few weeks we will start another year of preschool at home. I'm still deciding on what we are going to do, but I'm leaning towards a variation of Five in a Row and the Charlotte Mason Preschool Guide. Silas turns two in just a few weeks, so he will start Tot School. The learning will continue and I might share bits along the way, but things won't be documented on the blog weekly anymore. I might just try to share highlights from the month. Things are about to get adventurous around here with two little ones learning!

{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

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

Lately I've been grateful for...

hibiscus tea brewing in a thrifted pitcher

 peaches ripening in the window sill...

  reflections and vintage aprons

completely local meals

 fun at the fountains with our Burmese friends...

 

contagious smiles

 favorite places in the back yard

 

and an abundant kale harvest

Preschool at Home: Week 19

Last week we learned about the letters "W" and "X", the number 19, the nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie, and our Bible story was about the Wise Man and the Foolish Man. 

Here's a look at our board:

 

 We made a whale using a "W."

 We painted watermelons using half of a paper plate. 

We put 19 seeds on them using a black marker when they dried.

 

We made a xylophone.

  

We learned the nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie, which was actually a new one for me, too. Wee Willie Winkie runs though downtown, upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown. We used a paper cutout and some stairs that I made from construction paper to act out the rhyme.

 For our Bible story and song of the week, we focused on the Wise Man and Foolish Man.

 To help illustrate the story we used a rock, sand, and our "houses" made from paper cups.

 This activity worked out perfectly when Seth rained and flooded his wagon. 

The house on the rock stood firm and the house on the sand "went splat."

 We also worked on writing letters and numbers. 

Here's Seth version of his name using chalk.

 This is his number practice. I wrote the numbers first and then he tried on his own.

I was pretty impressed especially with the 2 and the 3.

 This coming week we'll finish up the alphabet with letters "Y" and "Z."

Fun at the Water Park with Nana and Pop

Nana and Pop came to visit us for the weekend and we took 

advantage of the after dusk prices at the Russell Sims Aquatic Center.  

The water could have been warmer, it was a bit windy, 

and Silas didn't want to have anything to do with the water, 

but Seth kept saying on the way home that "that water park was so, so fun."