Evenings With Winnie The Pooh

I read a Winnie the Pooh book (or 2) to Ezra every single night.Tonight Ezra says "Kanga is Kanga and Roo is Roo because they are kanga-roos". Last night he made an observation about Christopher Robin - he never grows up. Ezra's favorite character is Owl (or 'Ol Beak Lips as Tigger and Ezra call him). Ezra and I both decided we need Eeyore to visit our Acre of Nature since he loves thistles and we have more than we can handle. We have a couple dozen Winnie the Pooh books, but he usually has me read the same 2 or 3 over and over and over again. If my mind wanders while reading and I pause or skip a word, he catches it and corrects me. He has these books memorized. We have discussions about the relationships between the characters and are especially interested in Tigger and Rabbits ('Ol Long Ears as Tigger and Ezra call him) relationship. Ezra always wonders about what each characters family is like, and though we've agreed that they are each others family, he still wonders about their moms and dads. These moments at night with Ezra are the best part of my day!

All About Fish

We went to Columbia Springs for their Trout Scout program recently. It was another event we signed up with through our friend who organizes group activities for homeschoolers. There was a small group of us, all young kids ranging from four-ish to maybe 10-ish. During the first half of the 'class', we sat at desks while the teacher talked to us about trout and salmon. We had stuffed animal trout to look at, we drew pictures, we compared similarities between humans and trout and we discussed the life cycle of salmon. Outside, we saw lots of fish in their ponds on site. We walked through the woods along a trail discussing the ways in which the plants and other animals in the forest contribute to the life of the fish. The teacher pointed out specific species of trees, bugs, leaves, the difference between the forest and a meadow where we came out at near a lake, and types of animals that are found in each. 

Near the end, the teacher had each student go out in the forest, find a spot to sit and close their eyes and just listen to the sounds of the nature around them, and to recognize where the sounds were in relationship to where they were. They all seemed to enjoy most of the day. Ezra stayed engaged almost the whole time, but I did have to carry him back after the hike through the woods. 

Field Trip With Friends

Yesterday Esperanza went on a homeschool field trip with some friends to the Franz Bakery. They have some very strict rules and guidelines, including a minimum age of 7, which meant Ezra and I couldn't go. So, I dropper her off at our friends house and she had a great time. From what I heard, the tour lasted about an hour, included about a half hour of talking and another half hour of touring the facility which I also heard had machinery that is VERY loud. They gave a goody bag of treats to the kids as well.

Esperanza with friends S & S

Halloween Festivities

Witches, ghosts and goblins walking down the street

Knocking on the door saying trick or treat!

When the door is open, this is what you'll meet...

Spooky little children singing TRICK OR TREAT!

We did so many fun things for Halloween this year!

First, we went to Heather's for our lantern walk. We made lanterns last year, never actually went on a lantern walk together. So this year, we made lanterns again (see previous post), and Heather planned a fantastic evening at her house. There was fun and spooky Halloween themed snacks, the moon was almost full, so many of my favorite people were there, the kids all got dressed up and walked along a dark path I helped light with glow sticks and candles, there was warm apple cider for the kids and hard cider for adults and towards the end of the evening I was alone laying under the moon and stars on a trampoline next to a festive fall fire. It was amazing!

Next, we went to a homeschool Halloween party at a local grange. There was a small group of our friends there and we all ate some snacks, played some games and visited. Esperanza bobbed for apples for the first time and that was a lot of fun, both for her and for me to watch.

 Then we had our annual Halloween Bash and pot luck with our ACE homeschool group. Again, Esperanza dressed in her Dolphin outfit and Ezra in his Dog outfit. I brought a big pot of lentil soup to offset all the sugary snacks that would undoubtedly be there. The kids had fun and the adults always enjoy each others company.

Finally - Halloween! The sky dumped buckets of water ALL day long. Non-stop. It was the wettest Halloween on the record of my memory. We considered half a dozen alternatives to going out in it to trick or treat, but in the end everyone was still up for it so that's what we did. The dog and dolphin outfits really were the best costumes for a cold wet Halloween night like we had. We met up with Eva and her kids, some of their cousins and we went over to Araceli's house and we all ran around their neighborhood and had a fantastically wet evening of trick or treating. 

Later that night, Sadee came home with us. The three kids spent most of the evening going though the candy and deciding what to keep and what to trade the Candy Fairy. This year, she ended up giving the kids a couple of Hot Wheels cars and bubble blowers in exchange for their candy. 

3 Month Old Venture

The kids and I stopped by to see Mary and Baby Venture. He is almost 3 months old and looks so much bigger and different than he did a few weeks ago. Venture was tired and Mary had someone there that she needed to do some paper work with and my kids just wanted to watch movies on Netflix and pick out a Hot Wheels car from Shane, so I got to have Venture all to myself for a while. I spent forever walking around bouncing him and patting him on the butt to get him to fall asleep, but he is a fighter of sleep (just like my kids). I did finally get him to fall asleep. He is an adorable, sweet and happy baby. We need to visit more often! 

Kinderconzert - Strings

We went to our first Oregon Symphony Kinderconzert as a group of homeschoolers. It was held at an elementary school where kids from other schools and homeschool groups also traveled to to attend. This was the 1st of a four series concert performances offered with the intention to introduce the 4 instrument families of the orchestra to young kids. Each performance has a story to go with it. This story of the strings group that we attended was The Three Little Pigs (which just happened to be the fairy tale we discussed and compared during our recent fairy tale study). The strings group included violin, viola, cello and the double bass. They It was only 30 minutes long but it was SO cool. The woman who narrated the story was very engaging and fun.

We will be signing up for the other 3 for sure!

Black & Blue Paint Crew

When asked what color they wanted their rooms, Esperanza quickly said black. Black? Black! I of course had an initial response of wanting her to pick a different color...which of course made her want black more. Over time, we agreed on half a black room and found a black called Black Magic. Ezra, well Ezra just doesn't care. He found a blue color called Splashy and fell in love because of the name. 

So, Black Magic and Splashy it is! The kids wanted to paint their own rooms so we dressed appropriately, went to the hardware store the night before to buy paint rollers and Ezra even let me pull his hair back in a braid. They were so happy to help paint and they are both very happy with the colors they chose.

Mud

He just can't resist it. I can't resist him!