Weird Wednesday

Princess was still wild last night, but not as bad as the night before.
She was asleep by 11:00pm and woke up at 9:30am in a wonderful mood.
We hung out and tried to get some laundry done, but our hearts were not really in it.She wanted to snuggle and read.
After lunch I let her have some computer time and then we ran a couple of errands.
We started some pizza dough for tonight and we were going to make cookies,
but I forgot to pick up eggs on my last food shopping trip, so we'll have to wait until Thursday or Friday for that.
So much for our big afternoon of baking.
Oh well, back to snuggling up with our books.....

Bad,late night.....

Last night was a very late night filled with crying,screaming and serious meltdowns...and that was just the parents.
It would be funny if it hadn't just happened here.
Princess just could not or would not wind down and go to sleep last night.
She actually threw toys at me!! It was like one of those awful Super Nanny episodes that you watch to see people with children who behave worse then
your own.(ok my guilty pleasure is- that's why I watch)
I could not get her settled until 1:30 this morning. She is still sleeping right now
and it is almost 10:30 here. I'm really not sure what happened or why,
I just hope it was a "one off ". I'm exhausted!
Today is supposed to be a "preschool" day, but we'll have to see what happens
when she gets up.

Snowdays and Mondays

We awoke today to about and inch or two of freshly fallen snow.
It was lovely, but too powdery to build anything with.
Princess ran around in it and made snow angels.
We stayed outside for about 30 minutes and my nose was numb.
We decided inside was nice too.Mmm hot cocoa with whipped cream.
Now we are heating up left over pizza and playing.
We are calling it an official snow day which means we can amuse ourselves inside however we want. Princess had a "play date" with Cookie Monster
and Cat in a Hat while I got the pizza ready. They went to bounce on Mars
(our couch) and had a lovely time.After lunch we are finger painting.
The box of blocks has made its way to the living room and it's quite possible
that Barbie will come out to play as well.
I hope you all find a way to enjoy the day with your little ones.
If you are using a "lesson plan" drop it today and just play.
Really, you'll both (or all) learn something I promise.

Sunday

Nana now has 8 grandchildren who's ages span from 5 days-25 years.

Sunday we attended a birthday brunch for the oldest down the shore.

After eating we stopped by the beach to check out the waves and then to see

the house our nephew's just bought with his girlfriend. Princess had a great time hanging out with everyone.

Saturdays are for FAMILY FUN !

Saturday morning is Princess's favorite time of the week.
She wakes up and goes off in "search of" Farmer Dad.
Depending on the weather he may be in the garden already
or tending to some repair or just off for coffee and donuts.
Today I made coffee and my own version of a "sausage mcmuffin"
using veggie sausage because I need Farmer Dad healthy enough to
keep on working for many more years if I'm going to homeschool.
We spent some time putting away the art supplies we brought home
from Poppa's house on Friday and then we watched some tv and
colored for a bit. After lunch, Princess wanted to do a craft, so I dug
into my craft bags and pulled out a Humpty Dumpty craft I had
prepared for her.Humpty Dumpty is her favorite nursery rhyme/poem.
She repeats it over and over. She had a good time and made a nice finished product (although that is never the goal I start out with).We'll hang it on our
hall door that we use like a "bulletin board" for our school projects.
I will post a link to the site I got the project from in case anyone is interested.
http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/ys/crafts

Friday is Fun Day!

Friday is usually filled with fun, play dates and stripping the beds
for the weekend.(doesn't laundry always happen?)
This week it was cleaning out Poppa's art studio so Great Grandma doesn't have to. Princess had a wonderful time with Great Grandma
coloring pictures for her and singing songs for her(don't we all like a fresh audience?)We packed up some boxes to take with us and filled 4
paper grocery bags with paper to be recycled. Poppa printed out every joke he was sent via e-mail it would seem.We also found 3 or 4 jars with old batteries in them and marked "spent batteries".
We boxed up huge stacks of photos to be cataloged later as well as the files on each of his paintings.What it's about ,the photos he used to put them together. If you'd like to see some of his work you can check out the web site he started right before he became ill. http://philiprichman.com/
We still have more to do over there, but we did make progress.

Just a quick thought....

I brought this cd home from the library the other day,
and we have all been enjoying it ever since:

Jack Johnson

and friends

Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the film

CURIOUS GEORGE

If you have seen the movie, you have probably already enjoyed the music,

even if you haven't (and I think you should..it's really cute!) try to find the

soundtrack at your library and try it out or follow the link to hear the songs

on your computer.

Thursday is another preschool day

Thursday was a lot of fun here. We talked about winter weather
and watched the flurries fly for a few minutes each about three
different times. We made an "ice skating pond" and Princess did
all the cutting and gluing by herself.
We also worked on measuring as we mad pizza dough for dinner
with our good friends. The men folk played pool while keeping
an eye on the two kiddies playing skee ball in the basement
so the Moms actually got to enjoy adult conversation.
Ah what a treat! We all watched CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY to cap off our evening.

Wednesday

Wednesday normally finds us with a play date,
but it was too cold and the play date too far and
so we just stayed inside and did some crafts .
Princess had a lot of fun bouncing on the couch
after removing most of the cushions and a super long bath
in the afternoon.Once Farmer Dad came home from work
they went onto the porch to play basketball and
I drove over to the library
to pick up some Leap Frog dvds and a few books I
had ordered. I did finish my planning for February
and I organized my homeschool storage cabinet a bit better.

Tuesday is a preschool day...

Tuesday and Thursday are "preschool" days for us.
Princess worked on math today which for us
meant matching and counting and measuring ingredients
to make cookies.
She also played with her foam blocks.
Because she has shown an interest in learning it,
we also spent some time on our phone number today.
We were very excited to hear Farmer Dad's younger brother
has given us another niece/cousin today.

Mondays

Mondays are about rest and relaxation for Princess and me.
This week we really needed it.
Farmer Dad headed off to work and we headed to the couch to
snuggle up and watch Strawberry Shortcake .
Princess helped me make pancakes for breakfast and then we did a little bit of laundry before heading back to her room to listen to some music. http://www.susansalidor.com/buycds.php#sns
I was able to back up some of our photos onto discs while she colored
and played next to me in the kitchen.

All partied out!

We had a birthday party Saturday evening at a "My Gym".It was supposed to
take 45 minutes to get there from here, but we got lost. It was a scenic ride, so we didn't mind all that much. Princess had a wonderful time playing with all
the kids and on all the "fancy" gym equipment.
Sunday we had to get up early and get ready for another birthday party at a "Little Gym"that was also supposed to take 45 minutes to get there from here.....but we got lost again. Princess wasn't as agreeable to being "late" the second time in two days. The pizza was good, it was wonderful to see family and friends, but for now we are all partied out.
Opening Saturday's mail this afternoon you'll never guess what I found.....Yes,another birthday party invitation!

Saturdays

Princess's favorite day of the week is Saturday.
Just knowing that Farmer Dad will be in the house
when she wakes up makes her happy!
Today we slept in a bit and then we watched Tyler
cooking on TV....YUM.
Princess went with her Aunt to breakfast and Farmer
Dad and I went in search of comfortable shoes.
We each found a pair at DSW and then I found a really
cute pair of garden clogs for Princess for $5.00.
Still in search of some wool felt clogs, we headed over
to pick up Princess and on down Rt 1 to another DSW.
They had nothing, so we went next door to Chevy's
for lunch instead. On the drive home we saw about
10 Turkey Vultures on the side of the highway eating
a deer carcass. They were huge!
Now we're trying to rest
up for a birthday party this evening.

Snow Day!

Finally snow!!

Princess happily donned snow pants,coat,gloves,hat and boots

to play in the snow today.We dropped Grandma off at the bus

bringing the Seniors down to A.C. for the day and then headed

out to the backyard for some fun.

We made snow angels,tracked some footprints(our own)

went on a bear hunt,slid down the snow covered slide.

She gathered some snow to eat with maple syrup.

All before 9:00am.

Happy Birthday A.A.MILNE !!

To celebrate A.A.MILNE'S birthday, today is

POOH DAY at our house.

We read a bit from Farmer Dad's bedraggled childhood copy

of Three Stories from The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.MILNE

with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard.

For snack we had toast with honey and watched

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

Princess colored some pictures of Pooh and the gang enjoying

winter and we have a Pooh Bear math workbook she'll do a page or two

out of this afternoon.

This evening will find us snuggling under a quilt made by Nana

while reading yet more A.A.MILNE before bed.

Wishing you all a nice bit of honey when there's a rumbly in your tumbly.

Martin Luther King Day

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I planned a couple of crafts and activities
to do with Princess while we discussed a little bit of who he was and what
he tried to accomplish. Princess woke up wanting to talk some more about her Poppa today and why people get old and die.
So we did.
Now she is watching a movie and having a snack after spending some time this morning with her cousins while I ran an errand.
Maybe we'll cover Dr. King later, or maybe it will wait until another day.

Technical difficulties behind us and much more to say

I finally realized what I was doing wrong while trying to add my favorite blogs and Princess's favorite web sites.
I am not very technologically advanced to say the least, but I'm trying.
Really I am trying. OK, maybe first I tried to get someone to figure it out for me,
but since that didn't work, and since Princess is hanging out at my sister's,
I just kept doing it over and over until I saw it as clear as day.
I was leaving an extra http:// in the address field.
Yeah! OK, actually Farmer Dad came over and pointed it out to me.
:-)

Poppa's Easel

Today we spent some time with Grandma as most of the friends and family who traveled into town for Poppa's funeral have packed up and left again.
Because Grandma wanted them out of the way,Farmer Dad helped me pack up Poppa's easel and art books and put them into our truck so Princess will have them to remember her Poppa.
She has been talking to everyone about him and was a huge part of the funeral,
asking loudly "Do they know Poppa is dead?"
"What are they doing that for?" "Why is he in that box?"
Yes, she saw the casket with her Poppa in it. Went right up and said "Goodbye
Poppa, I miss you already" just about broke my heart.
I thought I could keep her away from the actual casket, but she needed to see everything for herself. She insisted on bringing her framed picture of her and Poppa taken just a couple of weeks ago on his 79th birthday.
The lady at the funeral home got her a nice column to place it on.
Two young men from the Navy did a wonderful job presenting my Grandmother with the flag that graced his casket while another played TAPS.
The state AMVETS office re-named his post after him.
It was very moving to see how many people were glad to have known him.

Value of my time

OK, the funeral is set and the family is arriving from all over the country,
and we are all gathering to say goodbye to Poppa and help Grandma get
through this. I keep getting the "you can do ______, because you're at home..so
you have the time" . EXCUSE ME???????
I'm ready to boil over and just tell them to stuff it, I understand I have more flexability than someone who works, but I do have things to do.
I also am not getting paid to attend said funeral.......thank you very much.
OK enough griping about that.
Princess and I have been talking about Poppa and she picked out her favorite
picture of them together.I will try to post it here.

Sad News

My Grandfather passed away on Sunday.
I cannot describe how I feel, so I'm not going to.
I know he is better off, but we are not.
I told Princess, and she said "I'm going to miss Poppa".
I said "me too, it makes me feel so sad."
Then she hugged me and said"but we still have Daddy,
so every thing is ok".

My homeschool friends and I have been talking about how our kids have dealt
with the deaths of Grandparents, and pets today.
Then as I was getting ready to write my post, my phone rang and I heard the news that a very good friend of ours lost his Dad.
And his children have lost their Grandfather.
We have been talking about loss a lot lately as
Princess's "Poppa" has been on hospice care for
a few weeks now. Our friend's Dad has been sick with kidney disease
for a while as well. His transplant was not successful and he left his hospital
Monday (as did my Grandpa).Last night he died at home in his sleep.
We will try to be there for his family and try to explain his passing to Princess
who knew and liked him as well.

Socialization

Today we met some friends from our play group to have some fun.
Chuck E Cheese is not my favorite place, but boy does Princess love it!
Her favorite thing is the picture taking booths....yes she loves taking a picture of herself. We have not done much in the way of school this week, we did make a Birthday card for our cousin Yesterday. Portia printed the sentiment and drew a picture.This morning we played with play-doh before our bath and play date.
While I write this she is coloring and watching "Between the lions" on PBS.
I have promised myself to get back on track, but I do like her to have a lot of
"free time" to explore her world and to play. Because it is usually just us at home, I try not to pass up play dates with our friends.
Always trying to make sure she is...socialized..LOL.

Happy New Year!!

Princess stayed up last night until 11:50pm and then she was down for the count!
Farmer Dad was already in bed and as my head hit the pillow I could hear fireworks
going off somewhere in the neighborhood.Happy 2007!!
It was a quiet celebration for just the three of us filled with yummy food and fun games and skee ball in the basement.
Just the way we like it.
I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere had as nice a time welcoming in the year 2007 as we did.
Maybe tomorrow I will put away the Christmas decorations.