This is an attempt to mimic my favorite blogger ever (because she is the coolest.)...

Except I don't really know what woolgathering means...

Just a second.

*googling*

Ah, here it is.

Woolgathering: Indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy imagining; absentmindedness.

Huh.

Anyhow, now that we have that all sorted out, here are my aimless thoughts, er, woolgathering.

- Piper has been begging me for a winter outfit for her doll (think American Girl but not). She is SO disturbed that her doll, Adele, has on summer attire in these freezing temperatures. We ventured off to the toy store to see how much a new outfit was...$20!! Um, no. I have been since searching for free patterns to make the desired clothes and I think I've found something doable!

- I can not believe that I am excited about homemade doll clothing. Daughters change a person.

- I'm super excited about a polar bear painting we're doing tomorrow. I get more into the art projects than the kids do sometimes...

- Considering growing sugar crystal sticks after our borax crystals experiment was a success.

- I cannot find the toilet paper roll holder stick thingy. Cannot.

- I'm really worried Winterfest is going to be a bust with the rain today and tomorrow and super cold temperatures coming. All I really want to see are the dog sleds!!

- I'm STILL reading Les Miserables. I started it in November. But it really is too good to stop. 

- Renly can stand all on her own. One problem: she clasps her hands together in the most pitiful and fearful kind of way and fake cries the entire time.

-Same kid = two new teeth. I'm patting myself on the back for that one.

- I bought Borax this week for the above mentioned science experiment. Now I have a whole box of it and I'm seriously considering making my own laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent with it. I've officially gone over the domestic edge.

- Speaking of the domestic edge, I am up to my ears in laundry - both clean-needs-to-be-folded stuff and dirty-needs-to-be-washed-and-dried stuff. Yet I blog...

- I have bags and bags of stuff that needs to go to Value Village. I keep starring at them, wishing them away. Not loading 3 kids plus all the stuff into the van on a bitter cold day wins out every. single. time.

- I joined Spring Clean 365 on FB. Day 1: Clean computer. Guess who is typing away on a dusty keyboard and looking at a smudgy screen?

- Taitum is my lucky sicky of the day. (Some schools have student of the month...We have sicky of the day.)  She keeps asking 'You 'nuggle me?'. Genius child. She knows I can't say no.

- Piper is on a Valentine's coloring page spree. Sometimes I join her. It reminds me that there are aspects of childhood I hugely miss.

- Carving soap is madly therapeutic. Go grab a bar of Ivory and try it. You can thank me later.

- I heard recently of someone seriously attempting to make a Christmas gift per month so when Christmas comes it won't be a mad frenzy trying to come up with and complete homemade gift ideas. I'm going to try. Except January. Obviously. On the other hand, this could be reminiscent of my Spring Cleaning 365 attempt.

- My husband was caught on Pinterest today. True story.

- I'm so terribly excited about my birthday trip to the States. Shopping. Good food. Lovely (although occasionally inappropriate) company...love you M&D! 

- Ren seems to finally be able to tolerate cow's milk. (Which means the doc's suggestion I was all growly about proved to be a good one....) However, the child LOATHES it. My hope of weaning her just escaped my grasp....

- I am voluntarily trying mussels tomorrow all in the name of my children's education. I'm already gagging at the thought of it.

Hokey.

I had a lot of woolgathering.

Maybe too much.

In fact, it's rather addicting.

I have WAY too much wool to gather.

Blame Heather.

For the past two weeks, Taitum has been learning Jack and Jill and the letter J.

(I had intended to do a rhyme a week but things got hectic and so we ended up spreading this one out over two!)

Day 1:

Tait was commissioned to build a hill and then attempt to go up it while we sang the rhyme!

Of course, Piper and I helped with the building and took turns, too!

(It's harder than it looks!)

This activity caused a lot of laughter and was Tait's favorite activity!

She asked to do it everyday!

Day 3:

I printed off this J is for Jack and Jill do-a-dot sheet and Tait used pompom magnets to fill in the circles.

I left this out for a few days afterwards and it was used a lot by both girls - they just love using those magnets!

Simple moments to warm the heart on these bitterly cold days...

So very curious about everything.

She stood and watched the mixer the entire time it was on.

I stood and watched her the entire time, too.

Not every bedtime, but often I read to the girls from a novel.

They snuggle up in their beds and I sit back against the wall, usually with a coffee in hand.

It took some practice for one little girl in particular to learn to stay still and listen.

But this has become a beloved pastime for me and my two oldest.

I enjoy the stories as much as they do!

Sometimes I choose books I've read before and enjoyed.

Other times I pick a known classic that I'm interested in reading for the first time too!

Together we enter in to these make believe tales that make us smile and giggle, sometimes sad or upset.

In many ways, I feel like this is more valuable than any of the school lessons we do together in the run of a day.

And yet it is not work, it is a pleasure.

I want them to know that - the joy of reading a great book, joining in on a great adventure, falling in love with timeless characters, feeling anticipation over what will happen in the next chapter...

Right now we are reading Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

And let me just say - it's a million times better than the Disney version!

Our reading time often ends with a deep, happy sigh from one girl child who whispers, "Mama, I just love Winnie the Pooh."

And an inquiring, "What's the next chapter called?" from another.

Other times, I find one or another sound asleep and I can't help but think that is a lovely way to nod off.

With one chapter left of Winnie the Pooh I've been thinking about what to read to them next.

I'm debating between The Tale of Despereaux and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

What is your favorite childhood novel?

Two other little voices joined me in song

All a buzz with excitement 

Movement never ending

While her big, beautiful blue eyes stare

Surprised 

And wondering

What is this?

I should know by now

How fleeting those tiny baby moments are

In a flash they are gone

But your sisters have taught me well, my darling

And I have drunk deep of your newborn scent

I have rocked you longer than necessary

I have found ridiculous joy in rising to nourish you at all hours of the night

I've been putting off completing this post because it's a long one and I have a lot to say!

Our first week back to school was a good one and we accomplished most of what we set out to do!

It felt so good to be back into the routine of things!

We 'rowed' Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton.

I wasn't so sure how much the girls would enjoy a book about a machine considering they have never showed much interest in such things.

To my surprise, they really enjoyed this book!

It was a really sweet story and provided us with many different topics to talk about!

Day 2:

We talked about personification.

As a visual representation of this literary device I gathered some toys - some with eyes and/or faces painted on them and some without.

I had Piper sort the objects that had been given human qualities from those that had not.

Next, she personified an object herself by giving a flower eyes and a smile.

This was a very basic understanding of the literary device but we eventually moved on to talk about how this also involved giving objects or animals feelings or making them talk.
Throughout the week, Piper began to point out different objects around our home and characters in stories we were reading that had been personified!
Her greatest challenge was pronouncing 'personification'! Haha!

We've also begun to fill out a story map for each of the books that we row.

Then both girls worked together to make squares with elastics on their geoboard.

This was a first and they were fascinated with this activity!

September to December, homeschooling went exceptionally well.

Our days went smoothly.

(Well...as smoothly as can be expected with 3 littles in the mix...)

But overall, I am happy with the routine we have established and the curriculum we are using.

However, I felt like Taitum was missing out.

Don't get me wrong - by choice, she is there for nearly every second of our school time.

The problem was that it was frustrating for her.

She often couldn't do the activities at the same level Piper was doing them.

So even though I was including her in everything she was getting discouraged by the fact that her coloring or drawings or whatever did not look like Piper's.

I attempted to provide her with more age appropriate activities that corresponded to what Piper was doing but the bottom line was she was not developmentally ready to sit and work on a worksheet or attempt to cut something out unaided.

I knew what she needed - more hands on, movement and sensory based learning activities.

So over Christmas break I prepared a mini curriculum for Taitum that is all her own.

Considering how well Piper's school work is going, I felt comfortable adding a little extra to my planning and to our day.

Additionally, this provides Piper with a new challenge that I wasn't sure she could handle yet - individual work.

Long story short - she has blown me out of the water with her ability to listen to my instructions and sit and work on something all by herself!

Anyhow, back to Tait.

She loves to sing and is really good at memorizing rhymes so I've planned a different nursery rhyme for each week that corresponds with the letter we are learning.

We only spend 20 - 30 minutes each day learning one on one together but it has proven to be the perfect amount of time and such a confidence builder for her.

Taitum is so thrilled every day to have this time together with me.

And I can't explain to you how happy it makes me to make special time just for her!

This past week we learned the Itsy Bitsy Spider to go along with learning the letter 'I'.

Here's what we did:

Day 1:

We made props to go along with the song.

We made the spider with construction paper and googly eyes.

The water spout was a leftover wrapping paper roll that we painted.

We used these props the rest of the week to re-enact the song.

Day 2:

We had some contact paper fun!

I taped it to the table, added some spider bodies and numbered them 1 -5.

Taitum then added the correct number of legs to each spider by sticking pipe cleaners onto the contact paper.

Linking up with 1+1+1=1's Tot School and Homeschool Creations' Preschool Corner!