"Gratitude turns what we have into enough."

Quiet library concentration.

One of our most favorite days of the week.

As a 'go along' activity to our science lesson on freezing liquids, we painted with ice cubes!

This was FUN and their paintings were so pretty!

The girls simply added food coloring to the water in the ice cube trays before I popped them in the freezer.

(They were equally as delighted with this aspect. Watching the food coloring swirl around in the water is rather mesmerizing.)

The next day we had our chilly painting utensils.

In fact, they were so chilly that the girls ended up grabbing spoons to push their ice cubes around with!

Initially, it looked almost like crayon marks but as the ice cubes began to melt they resembled watercolors.

In the light of the afternoon sun flowing through our kitchen window, this was a perfect and peaceful moment. 

Renly is finally walking!

I have been sharing the various stages of her learning to walk on Facebook but now that she is a true walker I thought I'd share it here!

(To see Taitum's first steps, go here.)

In February, we rowed The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills.

This is the story of a little girl named Minna who lives in the Appalachian region with her family. When her father, a coal miner, dies the family is left struggling to make ends meet. Through the kindness of the women in their community, a coat is made for Minna from pieced together odds and ends. She in thrilled as this means she can now attend school. However, her new garment is not kindly received by her schoolmates.

Social Studies:

This story provided us with various things to talk about.

First, we talked about the culture of the Appalachian Mountains and pointed out specific things in the illustrations. The girls were quite interested in the dulcimer they saw hanging on the wall of the family's cabin. We ended up finding some videos of people playing the dulcimer and the girls danced their hearts out!
Our favorite? Whiskey Before Breakfast! ;)

Next, we talked about death - how people feel when they lose someone they love, traditions that often occur when someone dies and ways in which we can remember them. That weekend, their grandmother was kind enough to show them things she has that help remind her of her Mom who passed away a few years ago.

Finally, we talked about teasing, how it makes you feel and ways to respond to it.

Art:

Piper and I colored our own rag coat.

Piper and Taitum both designed their own quilts by filling in printed quilt grids.

Science:

We learned about coal and coal mining.

To start, we read this book which was interesting and informative.

We made sedimentary rock out of crayon.
(For instructions, watch this video.)

In February we rowed Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening, a poem by Robert Frost.

Whose woods these are I think I know. 
His house is in the village though; 
He will not see me stopping here 
To watch his woods fill up with snow. 
My little horse must think it queer 
To stop without a farmhouse near 
Between the woods and frozen lake 
The darkest evening of the year. 
He gives his harness bells a shake 
To ask if there is some mistake. 
The only other sound's the sweep 
Of easy wind and downy flake. 
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep, 
And miles to go before I sleep. 

The illustrations (by Susan Jeffers) depict a man stopping in the woods and leaving food for the forest animals that live there.

We made bird feeders and hung them out to nourish animals (primarily birds and squirrels!) in our area too!

When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!

[Rabbi Harold Kushner]


A chickadee sighting.

 A tea party for two.

The best of times.