Dance concert

On Friday night we went to our first ever dance concert. My eldest son has been breaking out his own moves ever since he could walk and this was the year he chose to learn tap dance. His younger sister (who had previously done ballet) eagerly joined in.

We had a great night. Both our children were given 'first time on stage' awards and the teacher spoke to the audience about their enthusiasm and big smiles. It was a thrill to hear her praise them both for their kindness and encouragement of one another. Even more than their ability to tap dance, we were proud of their character!

Here are a few photos from the night:

He may not look too impressed but at dance he is known as "Mr Smooth"! Look out Hugh Jackman - this boy has style!

Our gorgeous girl. She's caught the stage bug now!

  Hubby and me having some fun.

Our 4 yr old...waiting for the concert to start.

Our two (on the left) and a friend.

Altogether, lots of fun!

recycled tins

There's something about coloured pencils that i love. They're fun, and bright and just make you want to get creative. In our house we use them all the time - for art, for notebooking, for colouring in...  For a couple of years now we've kept them in old baked beans and two fruits tins. Just soak off the label and you were done. Today though I decided to jazz them up a bit. After all, our tins of pencils are always out for everyone to see, why not make them pretty? Here's the before and after photo:

   

This was simple and fun to do. I made a quick pattern by wrapping paper around the tin, cut out some material (you don't need much, I just used scraps) hemmed the seams, wrapped it around the tin and   attached the ends with velcro. If grubby hands leave marks the material can be whisked off and washed. Kind of like a stubby holder, but prettier.

You could add ribbons or fancy edging too. The possibilities are endless. A tin like this filled with new pencils would make a cute Christmas prezzie.

Have fun! 

backyard science

Yesterday was one of those glorious sunny days when the outside seems to beckon you to join it. It was also our science day. My older two children (ages 11 and 12) were absorbed in their Sonlight core 5 science readings - books like The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body, and Blood and Guts by  Linda Allison. This year has seen them really step up in terms of independent learning. It's a wonderful thing to observe them confidently going about their work and creating beautifully illustrated pages for their science notebooks. Here's a sample of my daughter's pages:

With these two managing on their own I've been grabbing the opportunity to engage my 4, 6 and 9 year olds. We've also been studying biology together, but yesterday moved on from there to begin a unit on botany.
We began with a Magic School Bus read aloud - Plants and Seeds, and progressed from there to a chapter from another Usborne title - Life on Earth . After some quick notebooking in which we drew and labeled the parts of a plant, it was time for some hands-on experiments out in the sunshine...

We began with a quick discussion about how a plant drinks water during which I realised my 4 year old thought the answer was 'through it's petals'. To find out the real answer each child picked one white rose. We placed each rose in a seperate cup and filled the cups with water and a drop or two of food dye. It wasn't long (about 20minutes) and we could begin to see the roses changing colour according to the colour of the food dye we'd added. The kids were delighted. Here's a photo of the flowers as they looked after several hours:

Today of course, they are even more colourful!

We also spent some time discussing soil and gathering soil samples from different parts of our yard. The kids had alot of fun doing this, and investigating what each sample contained. The soil from our vege patch really did look to be the best!

  

We ended our lesson with another read aloud - this time about silk worms (to compliment our unit on Japan) -  and some nature journaling. Outside of course.

Which reminds me, anyone know where I might obtain some silk worms? .

Funny how I used to loathe science at school.....

simple faith....

I think Jesus would love these backyard creations.

I know I do.

Made spontaneously by two of my children this week.

With lots of love.

If you look closely at the sandpit Jesus you'll see nail holes in his hands.

Childlike faith.

I want some of that.

little boys and big beds

 It's official. Our youngest is growing up. Last night he slept in his own big bed. Yes - slept. He was so chuffed he didn't get out. Not once. And 2 days ago I spotted him in the middle of my cottage garden weeing. Well, trying to. His nappy was still on of course, but he'd pulled up his shirt, stuck out his tummy and was pretending to 'squeeze the lemon' as my 6 year old loves to say. Lately he doesn't need his dummy - not even at bedtime. Three days ago his older siblings taught him to salute and say 'Yes Sir'. I imagine next week he'll be asking to borrow the car. At least for now his hands are still pudgy, he still snuggles in for cuddles, his feet are fat, and he still needs his mum. He does love his big bed though. Apparently it's better for rumbling on.

      

Remembrance Day

Today is the anniversary of the signing of the armistace that ended WW1. Today we remember the many young men who died in battle. Amidst the busyness of our lives we pause and remember their sacrifice. Here in our home we'll observe a minute's silence at 11 am and listen to the haunting notes of a lone bugle that will  play in our little town. In military tradition the Last Post is the bugle call that signals the end of the days activites. It is also played at military funerals to signify that a soldier has gone to his final resting place.

 

Lest we forget.