trick or treat

A recent photo of the 3 girls. Alybug is the one with the missing two front teeth.

The girls had great fun trick or treating tonight. They were happy to be often identified correctly as the Ingalls girls.

an afternoon

Today my mom had the day off work, so she picked up the girls a little before lunchtime and I had an afternoon all to myself while they had a fun date with Grammy. It was a perfect day. The rain poured down outside, and the dogs and I sat in a quiet house. I'm rarely home alone, and I had forgotten how quiet quiet really is. I sewed the girls' bonnets for Halloween (pattern found here) then just putzed the rest of the afternoon away. It was fun to sew all by myself. I appreciate my little helpers (Pumpkin is drawn to the sewing machine and never misses an opportunity to help), but it was refreshing to listen to some loud music and sew away with just a little furry something for company. The bonnets turned out great. The girls didn't take them off this evening- mostly they wore them over the backs, like Laura and Mary do, they say.

end of our first block

We have finished our first second grade block lesson around John Muir. Far and away, the girls' favorite part of our 7 weeks has been Scottish dancing. They loved it. I imagine our circle will seem incomplete on Monday without it. They also really liked the trickster tales and the John Muir chapter story work. Em loves writing, and writing the longer summaries was fun for her. Both girls' handwriting is getting neater and better spaced. It's a very rare thing for a letter to be written backward anymore. Both girls are becoming more confident drawers. Last year they wanted all our drawings to be led by me, and this year they're doing great on their own. They usually each depict a different scene from the story when we draw. I draw along with them, choosing yet a different scene. It seems to aid our summaries on day 3 when the girls refer to our pictures from day 2. I don't think I did the best job of immersing us in Scottish culture, but we did listen to Scottish music from time to time- Dougie Maclean was a big hit, and we baked some shortbread cookies. A follow-up sage picture book both girls enjoyed was Squirrel and John Muir by Emily Arnold McCully. We did some science work with trees, and that was fun. We hung our scale drawing of a sequoia tree (alongside a 6' man, a 100' pine tree and an 80' live oak tree) in our school area and the girls often point that out to people. They both connected with John Muir, specifically on the whole save the earth mentality. Florida's legislature (which convenes in Tallahassee, where we live) is debtaing offshore oil drilling and the girls have an interest in following that and in fighting against it. Sure, some of that is because of what they hear from me and Rob, but I like to think some of that is John Muir inspiration!

Our Language Arts skill story this block was Silli Billi, working with syllables. And wow, that has really supported Alybug in her reading progress. She has taken off with it these last few weeks. Em has too, but it's a more dramatic change for Alybug.

The past 3 weeks we have been working with math in our morning lesson. During the trickster and John Muir weeks, we had been working with greater/less and even/odd and some addition and subtraction during our afternoon practice time. So, when we shifted to math in our morning lessons, it was a bit hard. The girls just loved all the drawing and writing we had been doing. We did some of that in math, with the reawakening 4 process story In Case of Drought and again with the counting by story, Missing Diamonds with the strange family characters. But then it was working with math manipulatives, games, and worksheets. It felt like practice time work, but we were doing it in our morning lesson block. We got through it, but I know everyone will be happy to switch back to trickster work tomorrow with our next sage, Mourning Dove, and we'll do math work in our practice time slot.

Rob's off at the Greenway with the girls and I have some preparation to do for our upcoming week. I may get back on tonight with some pictures of our work from this block.

the first big fall

Alybug and Em both fell off their horses at their lesson on Friday. The other little girl in their class did as well. It was craziness in the woods. They were on their first mini trail ride (up until Friday all their lessons happened in a small dirt ring), and they were so excited about it. In the woods, one of the horses got startled by something and took off, dropping its rider, and the other 2 horses and riders followed suit. Em hung onto her pony a bit longer than the others and didn't let go of the reins right away, so she was dragged a little bit. No injuries, and the girls recovered okay, but, whew it was scary. After some processing (and lots of tears from Em and Alybug) and popsicles, the teacher had them all get back on their horses- in the ring this time- and ride for a few minutes.

Today we were talking about it, retelling the story, and I said if they felt up to it, we have a lesson on Monday. They both acted shocked that I would think they weren't up to going on Monday. They love horseback riding. It's the thing they look forward to all week. Why would we not go?! I guess in the end I was more rattled by the falls than they were.

big news

We have a new little one on the way! We are all thrilled with this big news. Baby should arrive in the beginningish of May. When we first told the girls, they were stunned with the news and couldn't really respond. Rob suggested a game of freeze tag, so off we went to the backyard running and squealing. After the game, the girls were all ready to process. Em curled up in my lap, quiet and thoughtful. Alybug had lots of questions, the first of which was: Did this happen last night? ! A few months ago, we had a basic sex talk, at Alybug's initiative. Then, of course, lots of details- when will the baby be here? can i hold her? give her baths, etc.? what will we name her? Incidentally, baby is most often referred to as she around here. We'll all be surprised if it's a boy! Pumpkin's first thoughts about it: Now Alybug and Em will be big sisters to somebody else. Interesting perspective. Now she talks about being a big sister herself and taking care of the baby, but that first reaction really struck me.

Today we had an ultrasound, and baby was a little cutie. Her/His legs were squirming around. The girls were wide-eyed as they looked at the screen and listened to the heartbeat.

And now we wait and watch as baby and I grow.

peace of twilight

As we approach fall, twilight brings my favorite time. At twilight, we are often found outside. The day is nearly over, and night is nearly here. The trees stand still with dark leaves against a darkening sky. The birdsongs fade and the cricket chorus enlivens. The toads come out of hiding. The girls play happily in their backyard fort, coming back to the porch for a flashlight. I sit in my chair, satisfied with the day. It is easy to breathe deep and slow in this space.

knitting and a big girl date night

The girls and I have been knitting. Pumpkin has finally embraced finger knitting and we have her knitted yarn chains everywhere. Below are photos of a market bag I knitted and purses Alybug and Em knitted. Em's is on the right- she is a tight knitter; Alybug's is on the left- she's a loose knitter. I suppose that says something about their temperament. Me? I'm a tight knitter myself.

Last weekend Rob and I took the big girls on a date night to see an FSU women's soccer game. Pumpkin had a grammy date night. Alybug and Em had a great time at the soccer game and are still talking about #6's throw-ins. That girl was amazing! I've never seen anyone throw like her. I enjoyed time with just Alybug and Em. As we walked to the game from the car, Alybug and Rob walked hand in hand, Em and I followed behind them. There's something about walking with Em, focusing on only her, holding her hand, talking college soccer, that touched a deep part of my heart. It was a short walk, but it was one of those moments that will last in my mind.