Apple picking and all that other stuff!

There is an awesome 'pick your own' farm nearby that we went to today. They don't have anything that the other 'pick your own' places in the area don't have. It's because they're so darn nice that we love it there! They smile at us and talk to us and give us a hayride even though they don't usually do that on the weekdays... It's just nice.

"C'mon boys! Look at me so I can take a picture. Don't you want a nice picture for mommy?!"

"It's time for a pretty picture" I said sternly

Silly Girl

"I'll take this one and this one and this one..."

 

Why would they want to walk through the hay maze when they can walk on it??

By the time we got home we were itchy and tired, but not too tired to make applesauce! We made plain and raspberry, both unsweetened. It needed WAY more water than I thought from the recipes I read online. I'm sure it had something to do with the giant apples we used :). I probably used a whole cup of water for the big pot of plain applesauce and AT LEAST 1/2 cup for the smaller pot of raspberry. Some of it went into baby food containers in individual portions. I always have a million uses for those containers!

Apple prints

Some good apple books to read to kids before/during/after apple picking are:

The life and times of the Apple by Charles Micucci

Dappled Apples by Jan Carr

Apples by Gail Gibbons

And for fun apple crafts, experiments, facts and recipes:

The Amazing Apple Book by Paulette Bourgeois

Wacky Wednesday

It's a Book

It's a book. That is the title of a hardcover picture book that I paid almost full price for and have absolutely no intention of reading to the children I watch. My child, however, loved it as much as I did... and so did my mother!

I was standing in the children's section of a soon-to-be closed Borders bookstore when I found this book. Most of the customer friendly things had been removed or sold, but there were plenty of vultures people milling around to take advantage of the 30% store wide savings. Gwen was nonchalantly perusing the shelves nearby while me and 3 other women where trying to pretend to stay out of each others ways without giving an inch in case we were all looking for the same book and there was only one copy left. I, of course, was not looking for any specific book, I was just being spiteful because they were in my way. Note to all readers: deep down inside, I have a mean sense of humor... but I'm usually good at hiding it.

So anyway, I see this spine titled It's a Book and I must pick it up and stand there reading it. Not only because I was intrigued, but also to annoy the women around me :). I read a page, I smile. I read a page, I smile. I read a page, I smile... and then I reach the last page. Into the almost silent bookstore I let out a good loud laugh. Not a giggle or a chuckle, a full laugh. Everyone stares at me (except Gwen who is used to my crazy ways), but I ignore them and laugh again. Yes. It was that funny!

The author, Lane Smith came out with a similiar book in board book version, but the Barnes and Noble website is mad at me tonight and will not assist me in sharing the title. The point though, is that the board book is not funny! Don't bother to read it. After the hardcover book, the board book is sad and dissapointing, but it is a children's book appropriate for children, while the one I love so much uses the name 'Jackass' for the donkey and I am sure many parents will object... I don't. I read it to my daughter immediately.

I Love Books!!!

Spiritual Sunday - Kindness

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. - Dalai Lama

Ephesians 4:32- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Hadith - Muslim & Bukhari

"Allah is not kind to him who is not kind to people."

He who has let go of hatred,

who treats all beings with kindness

and compassion...

that man is the one I love best.

Bhagavad Gita (12.13-14)

Read Everything

I am constantly in search for interesting quotes about books & reading. Most of the ones I like are about the love of books, the need for reading, or straight from my favorite books, but this one really caught my attention this morning. It's very true.

"Books can be dangerous.  The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life."  ~Helen Exley

Books can put wonderful ideas in our heads. They can enhance our imaginations and take us places we have never been. They can inspire thoughts, art, even actions. How many children have read Where The Wild Things Are and proceeded to run wild through the house in any costume they could get their hands on? How many adults have seriously contemplated and /or discussed moral dilemas that Harry Potter was facing? Even though we know they are fiction, for a short time they can be reality. They plant seeds of thought and reflection.

I have a thought that it is not only the best books that can change your life. I believe that all books have that potential. Frequently, books (good and bad) have been banned throughout history and are still banned and challenged today. Usually the intention is to protect people from controversial ideas or opinions considered dangerous. There's that word again, dangerous. If you're interested in semi-current banning look here

 

To choose a good book, look in an inquisitor’s prohibited list.  ~John Aikin

I ban books from certain age groups in my home all the time. Movies are censored and I consider books just as influential. I have an upper shelf of books that are an appropriate reading level for Gwen, but have some negativity, language, ideas or behaviour that is not acceptable for her at this time. Among those books are titles such as Matilda, Freaky Friday, Bridge To Terabithia and Shilo. All perfectly acceptable to have in my home and I like them, but for a 7yr old they are a bit mature.

I am under the impression that most parents censor what their children read and it is perfectly acceptable, but do we censor what we ourselves read? Should we? I have found myself full of disturbing notions after reading some of the nonsense I like to pick up at the bookstore. Many of the books I have read have smudged gray the realities that I had previously considered black and white and for that I am thankful. But others have given me irrational thoughts and ideas that have no place in the society in which I live.

Many would say that I get too wrapped up in my books and they are right. I have been known to become just short of obsessed... passionate (Come on National Treasure fans, You knew that) about what I am reading. I am convinced though that all people, while they may not have my kind of passion for their books, still become very involved in them. As adults in a free country we have the right (thank God!) and the means to get our hands on just about anything that we want to read.

The question is: Should we? Well, I think we should. As adults we need to equip ourselves with the wisdom and the common sense to deal with 'crazy' thoughts and ideas. We need to take into our minds new concepts, swish them around, chew them up and see the roots and intricasies of them. But we also need to surpass the mentality of children and have the ability to spit them out in disregard if they are obscene or without merrit or morals. 

I will stop my babling and end with this:
If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe?  The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions.  ~Author Unknown

Seeing A Theme Here...

Gwen's library books for this week were:

Pony-Crazed Princess: Princess Ellie's Starlight Adventure

Pony-Crazed Princess: Princess Ellie's Camping Trip
Pony Tails: Pony Crazy
Pony Tails: Corey's Pony is Missing

Library Lion
Woof, A Love Story

One of the 3 yr old boys picked out these:

Spike at Halloween

Brooms are for Flying

Halloween Kittens

The other little boy picked out WHOO! WHOO! Goes the Train. None of these selections were a surprise. At all. We bring home similar titles every week, but really and within reason, who cares what they're reading?? I'm not going to be picky! When I announce that it's Library Day and they get excited and start jumping up and down, talking about what books they will look for and rereading the books we'll be taking back it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. That somehow, even with all the distractions of real life, I am encouraging a real love for books and learning that will hopefully be with them forever.

Some day I may even have time to look for book for myself... Possibly.

Oh Fexibility

Today is FRIDAY!! Yay!! Because we are doing the four day school schedule I planned to dedicate Fridays to 1. Catching up on anything we fell behind with and 2. Art and music. So, this morning I had the 3 things we needed to finish this week, plus her art lesson, plus her keyboard for a piano lesson out and on the table, ready to go.

Then Autumn struck. I am the biggest cold weather sissy. It was 70 degrees in the house this morning and I was under FOUR blankets! Brrr! First priority: find my hoodie and my slipper socks. Then find Gwen's fleece lined jeans and boots for her to wear to her riding lesson this morning. By the time I took care of and fed the boys and entered an online contest on The Joys Of Home Educating blog to try and win a free 31 gifts tote it was time to leave. I just checked my email real quick to see if anything important has come in and... Oh, look at that there is a homeschool picnic at Fort Mott at 11:30. Hmmm.

Needless to say, it was one o'clock before we got home from all that and I had to get the boys to sleep for their nap and Gwen needed to try on her clothes for dance class tonight and finish her reading. Now of course the bus is going to be here any minute and we have accomplished not one of the things I had planned for today. Sigh. I am struggling to be ok with it. This is the great thing about homeschooling. We can do it any time. Not everything needs to be done by 2:30 on Friday. Life goes on and life is learning. If we do Music and art tomorrow and the rest of the catch-up work on Sunday, what's the big deal? Or maybe we'll just save it for Monday and do schoolwork all day long like most kids do... yeah right, no way. LOL!

We Love Our Library!

Fridays have been our library day for a few months now and it's one of our favorite days of the week. During the summer Gwen and the two boys that I had five days a week each had their own bag to carry their library books in which made them feel more responsibility for the books they were checking out. It was a little hectic during checkout because the books all had to come out of their bags and back in without getting mixed up, but I felt it was worth it. Especially since one of the boys was starting Kindergarten this year and would be expected to be responsible for his own library books.

They also had a summer reading program that included smaller kids that can't read independently yet, which was really awesome. They each got a bag, a coloring page, and a log in name on the library website. If they met the reading requirements, each week they received a coupon. There was one for a free donut at Dunkin Donuts and free apple slices at McDonald's, but the best of all was the free kids meal at Applebees. It wasn't one free kids meal per adult meal either, because they outnumbered me 3-1! I thought that was really awesome of applebees to do that.

Anyway, This past Friday we made it to the library in time for story time and because I only watch a few kids at a time I like taking them to things like that so they can interact with kids they don't know. Our children's librarian does a fabulous job and we had a lot of fun dancing and listening to a story about grandparents.

Gwen had just found a Patricia Polocco book that we don't own called For the Love Of Autumn and she read it the whole time. The librarian helped her order some Pony Tails books that she was looking for and suggested Pony-Crazed Princess books that she could read while she waits for them.

It was a great trip and a wonderful experience for Gwen to work with the librarian without me hovering. I was busy with four preschoolers in the kids area!

Old/New Toys

We are really getting the hang of our new schedule! Gwen had all of her independent work finished by 9am yesterday and really helped me out during preschool time. Soon afterward she was playing in the library and discovering forgotten art supplies when she found her tea set that my mom bought her when she was itty bitty (probably 1 or 2 years old). It has taken 5 or 6 years, but she finally played with it!

Hello Art Museum

When Gwen was about two I read somewhere about taking your toddlers to the art museum being super-duper good for them. So of course I took her because that's what the article said to do. She did love it, BUT a toddler in an art museum is like a rhino in a china shop. I was constantly redirecting and we were both completely exhausted at the end of an hour.

Needless to say, we did not go back until this weekend. A seven year old is much more manageable! We had studied Jackson Pollock in August and we found not one, not two, but three of his pieces. Gwen was not impressed by all the naked people though! LOL!

My mom, Gwen and Jennifer studying Monet

Look a picture where I'm not the one holding the camera! That's rare!

Bibliophile School

Well world, we have taken the leap!

What kind of leap can people like us take? We already have a room full of books. We are on a first name basis with many of our librarians and it is not unheard of for us to go to 3 different libraries in one day. To top it off, by 3 years old Gwen would gladly spend 4+ hours in Barnes and Noble with me. All in all we seem to have leaped already, but now we have discovered...

Sonlight.

Sonlight is a homeschool curriculum based almost entirely on reading. It's like homeschool heaven for us! History, Geography, Language Arts, and Science all through reading, reading and more reading. Oh... and some map work and experiments as well. I'm not sure Gwen quite knows what I'm getting her into yet, but she has already started her independent reading books and I was shocked to see that she started with one of the thickest books. Mustang Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry reaches 223 pages. I am quite certain I will have to add some more of Henry's books once Gwen devours the ones on the curriculum list.

We will keep you posted!