A Mountain of Clothes

Sarah has changed her clothes no less than 17 times today. She has taken off her shirt that many times-and not every time in the house. She has worn her older brother's shirts, her older sisters shirts and occasionally her own. She has removed her diaper at least the said amount of times-it's turned out to be an expensive day.

I've watched her pull her shirt off outside in front of all of the neighborhood kids at least 5 different times today. It takes her less than a minute to strip down to nothing!

Every time she takes her clothes off she has to get new ones...I'm left with my very own Clothing Mountain Range.

Sarah modeling Sam's shirt with her very own sweater acting as a hooded shawl.

Conversation

Preface: Yesterday I went shopping at Lakeshore Learning, a divine place for learning. I purchased science kits-one on plants, another on the solar system. Two electricity kits-one basic, the other inventions. (which by the way, Sam has already powered a motor, a buzzer, made a switch from a paper clip and is having a great time). I bought other random things...spent way too much money but easily justified when it's spread out over 5 kids.

A conversation just took place between me and Paige:

Me: Wow! I spent alot of money yesterday on learning stuff. I could have bought a Wii.

Paige: Hmmm! Learning stuff? Wii? Learning stuff dings the bell!

Is that not the greatest statement ever?! Learning stuff dings the bell!

It's poetic, descriptive, memorable and is better than a thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper. I asked Paige where she heard that. She said "I'm pretty sure it came from me".

Learning stuff dings the bell! (I'm such a proud mama right now... she chose learning stuff over a wii- yea!!!! )

A bucket of swords

Last Saturday I went out yard sale-ing. I love to go to yard sales. I had a couple of items on my list-a mattress-which I found for $10. A bicycle-$10. Two kids wet suits-$10 and a bucket of swords-$5.

They were selling each sword for $1. I asked for the whole bucket and it was only $5. There were 23 swords in all. I brought them home to Sam and you would have thought he won the lottery.

Since the arrival of the bucket of swords, all of the neighborhood boys-8 in all, have been practicing for a war. We've been reading alot of Medivial Knights of the Round Table stuff, Civil War and Revolutionary War books. I believe that they are fighting a Knights of the Round Table war. They practice sword fighting every day. They choreograph actual fights. They have been making shields out of cardboard, bow and arrows out of sticks and string. They have decided that they need more archers than sword fighters because archers can stay alive longer due to being able to shoot and duck. The most surprising thing is they have requested 2 catapults.

They are very, very serious about this request. The specifications from them are: the catapults need to be 3 feet tall, moveable and be able to shoot large tinfoil canonballs across the cul-de-sac. I've been researching this online. There are lots of catapults that are little-not good enough for them they tell me. I've found one that is large made out of PVC pipe and I think I may adapt this one. From swords to catapults. I tell you, I didn't quite see this coming :)

Kylie's Quilt

Kylie is getting ready to head off to Girls Camp for the first time next week. She will be gone all week. AGH! How did she get so old? I'll keep pondering that on my own time.

She and I decided that she needed a quilt to commemorate her first camp experience. Kylie went through my fabric stash and picked out some darling fabrics. She has cut the fabrics into squares, laid out a random pattern and is in the middle of sewing the top. Kylie still needs to finish the squares, add the border, sew the backing and batting to the top, flip it and quilt it. We have a lot to do before Tuesday.

It's a joy to see her work so hard to accomplish such a fun task.

I'll post a photo when it's completed!

Observing Nature

I've always been fascinated with Charlotte Mason. I like narration, copywork and nature journals and I've used them all extensively. I've always thought about nature journals as just a way to get kids outside and see if they can observe and draw changes. I was so short sighted about this. I came across a post the other day that turned a light bulb on for me. The post is here. She quotes a famous scientist Richard Feynman and this is where the lightbulb happens...

"ALL of science is about trying to describe nature--whether it's biology or the known laws of physics. See, Nature is always out there, she's always doing what she does, and it's our job to try and trick her into revealing her secrets to us. It's a dance, because Nature doesn't always give up her secrets easily. You have to look closely at her; you have to experiment to really find out how she actually behaves!"

Science is about nature...it begins with nature journals and observing changes and describing through drawings and words what you see. Without knowing or understanding, by being in and around nature, you are in and around science! I love that!

Nature journals have a new meaning to me now.

A great speech...

Trust the Children -one of my favorite blogs has a great post today about preserving creativity in children. He links here to a very thought provoking speech. I just finished listening and it is funny, creative, insightful, less than 20 min. and I highly recommend it!

Colored Pencils

Sam is playing with colored pencils right now-7 packs of colored pencils. Of all things to play, he is playing army. There seems to be a fierce battle happening between the red/oranges and the blue/purple/blacks. He just announced that the red/oranges are outnumbered. I asked by how many...he answered by alot. He's counting-the numbers are going too high and he's losing track. Oh... now he is lining the pencils up man to man. I can see his brain spinning. Aha! They are outnumbered by 7. Hmmm? What is he thinking now? "Mom I need the yellows to help out the red/orange team. "Why?" I asked. "So they'll be even." How do you know they'll be even" Wheels in the head turning...comparing soldiers "because each color has 7 soldiers! Duh! Yeah!"
The red/orange/yellow team has officially decimated the blue/purple/black team. Casualties lay all over the floor while those who have won are marching down the table held by a 6 yr. old fist.

Interesting how much problem solving and learning occurred...estimating, counting, sorting, adding...interesting.