winter break

We've been relaxing and taking things slow around here. Alybug and Em often have their noses in books. Our living room is a gathering place these cold days lately where we keep a fire going all day long. Both big girls like to read to Pumpkin, and she mostly likes being read to.

Crafting is kicking in again too. We took a short break after all our Christmas crafting. Pumpkin is enjoying emroidery. I think embroidery is a bit too free form for Alybug and Em. I'm learning right beside Pumpkin, and it's quite fun! The big girls are keeping busy reading and finger knitting. We need new knitting projects. I'd like to dye some yarn with them soon and have them knit with their own hand-dyed yarn. Living Crafts had an article on dying yarn with kids last fall. I'm still knitting away on a baby blanket and I'm planning to sew a quilt for Pumpkin's birthday next month. I've never quilted before, and I found something I think I can do in Amy Karol's Bend the Rules sewing. Pumpkin laments the fact that she doesn't have a handmade quilt and blanket like her big sisters do (made by my NaNa who died before Pumpkin was born), so it's time to do something about that! I sewed little Christmasy totebags for the girls for Christmas (filled with airplane stuff to do), and I used this tutorial as inspiration- mine were bigger and simpler. They've already been packed away with Christmas things, so I don't have a photo to share. But they turned out well. Below is a photo of some jammie pants I sewed for the girls this year too. 2 of the 3 are already in need of some seam reinforcements, but I'm learning... I hope I'm ready for a simple striped quilt. The binding is the intimidating part to me right now. But I haven't yet begun.

I'm gearing up to start our second semester of second grade next week. We'll do the African-American tricksters and sage story of Harriet Tubman, followed by a LA skills week for the rest of January and beginning of February, then the rest of February will be place value with math. March and April will bring Indian tricksters, Mahatma Gandhi and more work with place value. We'll also put together a play in the spring. The girls loved doing the Four Friends play last summer. I'll continue to work with kindy stories with Pumpkin this semester. I'm switching up our circle time to be aimed at her needs, which for now is an adventure circle with a story line rather than just the rhymes and exercises, which Alybug and Em are content with. Makes for more work in planning for me, but I think it will help our days. I need to find a way to get Em and Alybug's academic verses in- they really frustrate Paige, so it's a challenge to find a consistent place for them in our days. They just can't work in our movement circle.

In early May our baby should be joining us and we'll take a couple months off from our school rhythms. We may finish second grade work next fall and switch to 3rd grade in January 2011. But that's a long ways off...