Buon Giorno!

We've just finished Papa Piccolo, caro mio! We finished up by making the biscotti recipe in the FIAR cookbook. Mmmm!

Along the way, Abby enjoyed painting and the art lessons in the manual, learning about cats (and playing with our kitten, Jesse), finding out about Italy, and reading a few good books.

Peppe the Lamplighter doesn't take place in Italy, but in Littly Italy in New York City. It's the story of a little boy who gets a job as a lamplighter and stuggles to win his father's respect. It is a very thoughtful story, which can spark some good discussion. The illustrations fit well with Papa Piccolo (light and dark), and a lot of the story takes place on the street, as does Papa Piccolo.

Another one we enjoyed was Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment by Wendy Macdonald. Abby and I had not read about Galileo before, so this was a good opportunity to learn about him.

We're off school this week to do some things around the house. When we return after Labor Day, should we row The Glorious Flight, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, or perhaps Truman's Aunt Farm? Hmmmm, too many great choices!

A Happy Occasion

Abby was baptized on Sunday night at the lake......

Storm in the Night

We're enjoying our time with Storm in the Night!

We read a Caldecott book, Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, which an endearing book with great illustrations.

And a very interesting book, Shelterwood by Susan Hand Shetterly. It is about a girl and her grandfather, who is a logger. This story would be a good nature book to come back to on its own at a later time.

We also made a cloud cake: a chocolate layer cake with 7-Minute frosting. A yummy kind of fun today!

The Last of Read-Aloud Week

Since we didn't have school at the end of last week, we finished up some books today. We must say that we all liked the ending of Snow Dog, which we finished on Saturday morning, and hope you'll read it sometime.

Abby and I need to finish some books for Gramma's Walk and we decided to start Storm in the Night today, too. And we started a new chapter book for history.

Abby's Birthday!

For Today (August 17, 2009)

Outside my window...
It's alternating between sun and showers. And it's supposed to be a bit cooler this week!

I am thankful for...
Carrie, who is a wonderful helper.

From the learning rooms....
Storm in the Night for Five in a Row - perfect weather for this book!
We're going to begin studying the art of William Bouguereau, listen to more Mozart, and read a few poems, too.

I am reading....
A Louis L'Amour book, with an Earn Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) waiting in the wings.
Sorry, nothing profound.

I am hearing....
Emily sweeping the living room, Thomas, Carrie, and Anna playing Monopoly.

Around the house....
The washing machine repairman is supposed to show up tomorrow. Happy Day!

One of my favorite things....
My husband is right at the top of the list.

A few plans for the rest of the week....
Schoolwork. A wedding next weekend which involves several members of our family.

A picture I'm sharing....
Abby's birthday was Friday (she turned 7). This picture of the cake is only a teaser - I'll post the other pictures tomorrow.

Read Aloud Week, Day 3

Today's reading:

We read this today for Abby's history. It's new at our house and worth finding for yours - the text is a bouncy poem with pretty illustrations.

Go-along for The Door in the Wall


Go-alongs for Gramma's Walk

The chapters for Little House on the Prairie and Snow Dog were especially exciting today, too! But we're going to be very busy for the next couple of days and may have to finish our books next week.

Read Aloud Week, Day 2

Here are some books we've read today:

We're well into Snow Dog, which is very exciting, and, after several weeks, we've finished Adam of the Road. Great book, especially with Robert Lawson's illustrations!


Both to go along with our FIAR book

After I'd read for several hours, Abby read this one to me as a go-along for Gramma's Walk.

We read this for Abby's history today. It's a wonderful story-within-a-story.

And, finally, we read this to go with Abby's history and are, at this minute, in the process of making the Goody O'Grumpity bread recipe in the back of the book: a dense ww loaf with lots of spices, raisins, and dates. Mmmm!

Let's Read!

Here's what we're reading today:

During read aloud week, we usually try to read a nature book of some sort.


Thomas is reading this book (all by himself, a great achievement!).

Abby's FIAR book for the week.


A go-along for our FIAR book.


Abby looked at this book while we were having our FIAR lessons.


This is Carrie's independent reading.


Abby and I are about half-way through one of my favorite books of all time.


This book is part of Thomas' The Door in the Wall unit study.


Abby's history reading for today.

For Today (August 10, 2009)

Outside my window...
It's hot, hot, hot. No rain in that big blue sky.

I am thinking....
About fall clothes for myself and the girls.

I am thankful for...
Some days at home.

From the learning rooms....
It's read-aloud week! We're excited!

From the kitchen....
Abby's 7th birthday is this week. For her birthday lunch she's requested:
fish sticks, chicken nuggets, fried okra and grits. Odd combination, huh? lol

I am creating....
A new arrangement for the top of the TV cabinet: dried hydrangea blooms in a white pitcher, a butter-yellow platter which has purple grapes and red apples around the edges (looks sort of Italian), 3 dark red candles in brass candlesticks and 2 large bunches of purple grapes.

I am reading...
We're all avidly reading Earl Stanley Gardner books (Perry Mason mysteries). Can't get wait to start another one, but I really need to get some things done around the house before I let myself read!

I am hoping....
For a fairly quiet week.

I am hearing....
Rachel, washing the breakfast dishes. Emily, playing with the kitty outside. Abby and Carrie talking in the bedroom.

Around the house....
Just the usual chores. I have one broken washing machine (we have two) and I'm hoping it will get fixed this week so laundry takes less time. The garden has slowed down considerably, but I'll need to pick butterbeans tomorrow.

One of my favorite things....
To read aloud to my children. I love it, they love it; we learn so much together.

A few plans for the rest of the week....
Emily to the eye doctor for the third time, to see if we can get these glasses right at last. Company over the weekend. Abby's birthday in little bits over the whole weekend. Some prep to get ready for her birthday, a house to clean one morning, plus schoolwork every day.

Here is a picture I'm sharing....


Thomas, chopping rosemary for herb bread.

Arts Week, Saturday

Today is our last day for Arts Week. We've had a great time away from the usual school books!

Besides working on unit studies with Thomas and Carrie today, Carrie helped with lunch. We made our own recipe, which is a layer of shredded beef or pork roast in a baking dish with a layer of BBQ sauce, a layer of cheese, and on top, a layer of cornbread batter, which is then baked until the cornbread is done. The kids like this a lot!

Abby and I had fun reading The Thanksgiving Story. We made Snickerdoodles, which I understood were made during colonial times until I consulted foodtimeline.org and learned I was wrong. Oh, well, we had a good time making them and will enjoy having them for lunch tomorrow.

And for our last day of Mirette on the High Wire, we did the science lesson on copper and cleaned some pennies.

Next week: Read Aloud Week, our very favorite school time together!

Arts Week, Thursday and Friday

We're having such a good time this week!

On Thursday afternoon, Thomas and I made ww herb bread to go with his DITW unit study. He had a good time mixing and kneading and everyone enjoyed eating the hot bread with butter. It was gone in a matter of minutes!


I helped Carrie made another notebook cover and Abby and I read The Happy Lion, which is such a cute book, to go with Mirette.

Abby (We decided she should be a French girl, Abbee') and I made a boardinghouse on Friday. She helped with our weekly cleaning and helped prepare French food for lunch: bacon quiche, French onion soup, baguette, and chocolates.


We went out to the local mission to stock the pantry, leaving the sign on the front door. When we got back, the bug man had been here and left the bill in the door. Wonder what he thought of Abby's sign??


Thomas and I worked on The Door in the Wall and Carrie worked on Around the World in 80 Days.

The week is going well!

Arts Week Project #2

Today's artist was Henri Rousseau. We made jungle prints by painting the backs of leaves, laying them on the paper, covering the paper with another piece, and going over it with a rolling pin. Then the kids added flowers or drawings.


Abby made muffins, Anna helped make chicken pies for lunch, Abby and I read Old Bet and the Start of the American Circus to go with Mirette and talked about compound words and vocab words. We listened to our Mozart CD and Thomas listened to some chants. I helped Anna make a new dresser scarf and we shelled butterbeans.

A pretty good day!

Arts Week Project #1

We're having Arts Week!

Today we studied the paintings of Georgia O'Keefe. She liked to paint flowers that covered the canvas. Carrie, Thomas, and Abby enjoyed painting flowers, too. We found the project in Discovering Great Artists.

We also listened to part of a new Mozart CD and read about him in Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers.

Thomas looked up and drew some English wildflowers to go with his chapter in The Door in the Wall.

Carrie worked on Around the World in 80 Days, reading about the Reform Club and making a minit book for her notebook. We also sewed a notebook cover this afternoon and she hemmed a pair of pj shorts.

Abby and I started reading Mirette on the High Wire for her FIAR book. We read Madeline, too, for comparison and looked at the atlas and Children Just Like Me. She helped Rachel make the eggrolls at lunchtime, too.

More tomorrow.....