Writing Letters and Drawing Birds

Katie's on the left. Mine is on the right.

Be fruitful and multiply

Well though it isn't the "traditional" interpretation we added three kids to our family for the rest of this week!  Bring on the excitement!  And penance? Well it is Lent starting today.

Family Literacy- January/February

I had intended to post this and link to Work, Play, Read for one of their Family Literacy posts but they're changing it up for the month so I'll just post it here. 

For K week I happened upon numerous books with 'Katie/Kate' as the main character and just couldn't resist bringing them home to enjoy as a family. 

If you have or know of a Katie or  you just want to read about one these are recommended:
Kate and the Beanstalk
Katie and the Mona Lisa and Katie and the Sunflowers (as well as the rest of the Katie series by James Mayhew) these books are also great books on art and artists!

The other book we read a lot K week was a special book about our very own Katie.  "Katie Can" was a book my mom put together on Blurb for Katie's second birthday. (I can hear my mom groaning as I type this...sorry Mom if you're reading this I couldn't resist...its just too great to not share!)

I really can't recommend this idea enough for a great keepsake gift.  It is simple to do and oh so meaningful.  Our Katie has it memorized and even Julia never tires of reading it over and over and over.  The text is simple.  The pictures close up and easily enjoyed (thanks to my SIL who does the photography).

 I have used Blurb myself to create a wedding book and am now working on another project to remain nameless at this time.  Anyway, nothing encourages literacy at our home like a little old fashioned pride I  guess.   In the future I hope to also find some books about St. Catherine (Katie's patron) and include these (perhaps for a little more virtue!), too.

Also for K week Katie made a timeline of her life (with a combination of ideas stolen from Heidi and Monica).

 She loved looking through the pictures I'd printed and hearing/telling about each one.  She put them in order with a little help and then went at it with the gluestick.  We were both pleased with the outcome.

So rassle yourself up some name books and have a good time reading!

Gramma You are Our Sweetheart!

The girls received these cute jammies in the mail this weekend.  They're covered in cupcakes and hearts.  Happy St. Valentine's Day Gramma!   And everyone else too!

Scary

The way to love anything is to realize it maybe lost.-  G.K. Chesterton

Grateful this accident wasn't more than just this and a lot of stinky plastic smoke.  Thanking God for His many blessings today and living as this were my last day on earth.

L, M 'n' Oh so Much More

I feel like I'm a bit behind in my blogging.  We were knocked out with the sickies awhile ago now and yet I just don't feel like I've got things clicking again at home or online.  So here's a bit of a round up post of some of the things we were up to in January. 

On the Alphabet Path we conquered K week (which deserves its own post) L, M, N and are now in the midst of O!  Oh my, the weeks seem to fly by at home. 

L for Ladybug, Kate found a book of cakes with this one featured on the cover while visiting the Library during L week.  I baked with help and they of course decorated.

M for Mouse

 We stole this idea from Work, Play, Read.  It was a hit along with the book.  I am thinking of using it again in a lesson I'm teaching for an art coop on colors but am wondering about finding an alternative a bit more advanced for some of my early elementary kids (ideas?). 

My girls were hesitant to paint with their hands.  I think I need to let them let loose a bit more. ;-)

It became necessary to take out the brushes so we could keep our hands clean.  They don't get that from me!  Maybe Kurt?

M is for ___?  Mom of course! Couldn't you tell it was me?

 January also brought our first and thus far only snow of the season.  Strange weather for here in WI we've usually got quite a bit but just today I noticed our lawn is nearly snow free. :-(  While we did have some flakes on the ground Kate and her friend Joseph tried out our new sled on our new sledding hill.  It is AWESOME!   We are praying for more snow before we have some other friends come to stay for 3 days.  It would be great to play outside with them!

They really went quite the distance after a few runs.  They were cold but HAPPY.  The joy of sledding brought back memories of my youth (Scream Mountain, Marla?) and smiles all around!

In the spring I think we'll need to move that lone obstacle because you know they'll hit it eventually.

Our trip north in January was foiled by illness so the girls have been daydreaming of Gramma and Grandpa non-stop.  Hopefully our trip for February will be successful.  We are healthy for the moment but croup is going around in families we're close to here.  One of the dear ones is hospitalized currently, you can say a prayer that all will be well with him soon. 

We started storytime at the library and as I mentioned are in the initial stages of starting a coop for art and gym for stay @ home and homeschool families.  More on that and other endeavors soon!

St. Blaise

The girls playing "St.  Blaise" and blessing throats.