Sunday 19 February 2012

Notes





Late last night I came into the dining room to find four girls bent over a pile of papers, pencils in hand, scribbling furiously. I asked what they were doing and was told 'Writing and passing notes.' It's not often that they all 'play' so well together, so I snapped some shots. I said I was off to bed and the big girls said they'd put the little ones to bed when they'd finished, awww, sisters are awesome sometimes.

Sunday 12 February 2012

Meet Spotty Dotty





 Looking for something 'arty' to do this afternoon, Sienna and I got to work making a new friend (Yep, still dog crazy!). She drew a plan of how she wanted it to look, found the various fabric colors and buttons, and drew on some spots, while I cut the shapes and sewed it. She filled it with white stuffing, chatted happily and practiced using the needle and thread while she waited for me to finish it. In the end she was very pleased with her new toy, and is planning our next creation already.

Fingerprint Art

Sienna is doing a unit study titled 'my body' which begins with a worksheet of sorts where you draw and write in all about yourself and what you like. One of the activities was to do a fingerprint. We talked about how every print is different. Later, she went off and told Kyla. She looked at Kyla's finger, and her own, and seeing the similar patterns, declared me mistaken, and that the prints were the same. So funny. But I digress. I remembered seeing some fingerprint art, and showed Sienna how to do some things, she had great fun. I got online and ordered 'Ed Emberley's Fingerprint Drawing Book'. When I got it and brought it home, it seemed that the moment had passed, and she gave it nothing more than a cursory glance. Today however the mood took her once again, and she got down to some serious printing, by days end we had four pages.









Even dolls have bad hair days.


Kyla came in and asked me the other day if they could take their dolls in the pool. I said sure, but their hair would probably go all icky, as it does when it gets wet. Not happy with that she decided we'd better design something to keep the water out. A little duct tape, some glad wrap and a hair tie, and they were ready to see if it would work....


The answer? For the most part. Denver and Sienna got a little rough, which let the water leak in. Kyla was more sedate with hers, and as a result, the hair remained mostly dry :-)

Kids in the Kitchen

Whenever one of the chickens gets close to exemption age (Sienna is six in April), it seems to ignite a flurry of 'homeschool' like behavior in everyone. Text books and stationary has been purchased and we've pilfered the library of all it's readers. I know well enough to realise it won't last long, so bear it with quiet amusement. Madi and Kyla, well, Madi really, but she is hauling Kyla on the bandwagon, have developed a sudden interest in food preparation and got a number of recipe books out of the library. Madi and I tried out a noodle omelet type recipe on Roger, which he has become obsessed with and has almost everyday. The girls also cooked up some very yummy looking corn fritters, always a fave in this house. Apparently next they are whipping up some falafels for moi, can't wait!

The Word Party

Loving words clutch crimson roses,
Rude words sniff and pick their noses,
Sly words come dressed as foxes,
Short words stand on cardboard boxes,
Common words tell jokes and gabble,
Complicated words play Scrabble,
Swear words stamp around and shout,
Hard words stare eachother out,
Foreign words look lost and shrug,
Careless words trip on the rug,
Long words slouch with stooping shoulders,
Code words carry secret folders,
Silly words flick rubber bands,
Hyphenated words hold hands,
Strong words show off, bending metal,
Sweet words call each other 'petal',
Small words yawn and suck their thumbs,
Till at last the morning comes,
Kind words give out farewell posies....
Snap! The dictionary closes.

-RICHARD EDWARDS.