Mostly Sweet, Sometimes Nuts

Ok so I have used up my space on this blog and have to start a new one.  Here is the new blog site:  http://mostlysweetsometimesnuts.blogspot.com

Operation Christmas Child Packing & Tea Party

Our homeschool co-op had an Operation Christmas Child Packing/Tea Party.  The girls 12 & older (and the couple boys who were there) served the younger kids.  They had peppermint tea, which Sienna actually tried, but didn't love.  After the tea party the kids packed a lot of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

 This was a candy bar.  At the end of the party the kids each got a bag and they went through the candy bar to fill up.

Runaway Bunny

I love doing these preschool book studies.  And although its a preschool curriculum we're using for Rylie, Sienna is still young enough to enjoy the stories and activities too.

 Making a bunny on a stick.

 I found this idea on Pintrest.  There were pieces for the bunnies for each part of the story.  As I read the story I used the pieces to illustrate it.  And since then you can often find Rylie "reading" the story to herself and acting it out with the bunnies.

 Since the bunny hides in a crocus we made flowers from their hand prints, although our flowers look more like lilies.

 We practiced identifying 1 syllable and 2 syllable words.

 I hide a small picture of a bunny under one of the numbers, then Ry has to tell me a number to pick up that she thinks the bunny is under until she finds the bunny.  This is really good for her to practice identifying her numbers.

 Since the mother bunny in the story walks on a tightrope we decided to do some tightrope walking too.

We also made some bunny masks and had Annie's bunnies and carrots for a snack.

They each took a turn placing things that happened in the story in order.  Sienna had to do this without the book, but I let Ry use the book as reference.

This is a great story for If....Then statements so they both took a turn doing that.



Pages for our lap journal.  Since the BFIAR preschool curriculum has so many stories and activities in it I decided not to make a lap book for each story and decided to put them all in one 3 ring binder to make a lap journal.  An idea I got from the blog Delightful Learning.

 We talked about the 2 kinds or art used in the book, colorful painting and ink/pen sketches so the girls did both.  Painted a scene from the story with watercolors and then did an ink sketch to go along with their narration of the story. 

I had read how good it is to have young children narrate stories that have been read to them at an early age to help them pay attention and to make it easier for them by the time they have to write summaries and book reports.  By that time they will already be use to telling back a story in their own words.  Well I agree they definitely get better at it.  This is the best, most detailed narration of a story Sienna has ever given.

There once was a little bunny who wanted to run away.  So he told his mother "I want to run away."  Then he said, "I'm going to become a fish and I'll swim away from you."  Then his mother said, "Well then I'll become a fisherman and fish for you."  Then the bunny said, "Well then I'll become a rock high above you."  Then his mother said, "Well then I'll become a rock climber and I'll climb to where you are."  Then the little bunny said, "Then I'll become a crocus in a hidden garden."  Well then his mother said, "I'll become a gardener and find you."  And then, well then I'll become a boat and sail away from you.  Then his mother said, "Well then I'll become the wind and blow you to where I want you to go."  Then I'll join the circus and be swinging on the swinging trapeze.  And then his mother said, "I'll become a tightrope walker and walk with you in the sky."  Then the little bunny said, "Well then I'll become a little boy and run into the house."  And then his mother said, "Well I'll become your mother and catch you in my arms.  Here have a carrot."

-narrated by Sienna 11/7/12

Food & Operation Christmas Child

Learned a little about food groups and "sometimes" foods. 

 I thought Ry drew a pretty good watermelon for a 3 yr old.

 Made pine cone cookies.  Ha!  A "sometimes" food right after learning about healthy eating.

 Sienna has been really into wanting to "help the poor people, especially the kids" recently and when we donate food or money she hasn't really been feeling like its satisfying to her.  I love that she has such a caring heart and I have wanted to find something that makes her feel like she is more involved so that she doesn't loose that feeling of wanting to help.

So my friend Julie, told me about Operation Christmas Child.  I love how the girls can be so involved in it.  The girls each did 2 boxes.  A boy and girl of their same age.  So we went to WalMart to get things to fill their boxes.  They were so excited when we went to pick out things to give the children, although the girls kept choosing large items and I had to keep saying, "Now is that going to fit in a shoebox?"  Finally, I got some of the shoebox size storage containers and told them that everything for each kid had to fit in one of those.  Once filled, we put the storage containers back on the shelf.
We got some small toys, a shirt, toothbrush, toothpaste, some small treats, and some crayons, and craft items, and flashlights with extra batteries.  The girls then drew pictures and gave the kids some basic info about themselves like favorite food, favorite color, how old they are, and what they like to do.  We are also putting a picture of the girls in the box.
They wanted to pack their own boxes, but the way a 3 & 5 yr old pack it, I had to redo it :)

They have a label you can print off online to track where you shoebox goes.
  Sienna especially is so excited to track her box and see where it goes.  They give you a prayer card to pray daily for the children who receive the boxes.  I think we will be doing this every year!

Right after Julie told me about this I got a email from our homeschool co-op and we will be doing it Wednesday with them too.  They are having a huge Operation Christmas Child packing day, with a tea party to follow for the girls.  The girls 12 and over will be serving the younger girls at the tea party.  So fun!  So we have 2 dozen cupcakes to make for the tea party :)

Here is a link for the Operation Christmas Child if you want to check it out:  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ/ 

The videos really got Sienna even more into it.  After it she said, "Mommy maybe we can bring those people here and they can live in our house for awhile and we can put up the tent in the backyard and we can stay in there."
She as also since commented on how she has "too much toys."



Homeschool Day at Mt Vernon

Mt Vernon had a hands on history day for homeschoolers.  The girls had so much fun learning about our 1st President and especially about how people lived in the 17th & 18th centuries.  They also loved the map of Mt Vernon they each received where they had to find 9 places on the map to find the clues to questions on the back of the map.  If they found all the answers and filled it out they got a prize at the gift shop.

 Here they were shown how and old butter press was used to make the butter into rectangles.

 Then they got to make some butter.

 There was a demonstration on how they use to make their own soap.

 Washing clothes the old fashioned way.

 Picking seeds out of the cotton.

 

 Sienna loved combing the wool to make it soft.

 This is how they use to break flax to make it soft so they could make linen out of it.  I never knew that linen came from flax.

 Demo on how they use to twist a piece of cloth and dip it in beeswax to make their own candles.

It was also fun to watch the blacksmith make tools.

It was a great day and especially Sienna was very interested in how "they used to do things a long time ago."

Saint Kateri

 For All Saints Day, the homeschool co-op had kids dress up as a saint and talk about their saint.  Sienna dressed as Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, who was just canonized on October 21, 2012 and she is also the first Native American Saint. The following is taken from conservationcatholic.org:

 

At the age of four, smallpox attacked Tekakwitha's village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Tekakwitha an orphan. Although forever weakened, scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived. The brightness of the sun blinded her and she would feel her way around as she walked.

Tekakwitha was adopted by her two aunts and her uncle, also a Kanienkehaka chief. After the smallpox outbreak subsided, Tekakwitha and her people abandoned their village and built a new settlement, called Caughnawaga, some five miles away on the north bank of the Mohawk River, which today is in Fonda, New York.

In many ways, Tekakwitha's life was the same as all young Native American girls. It entailed days filled with chores, spending happy times with other girls, communing with nature, and planning for her future.  She often went to the woods alone to speak to God and listen to Him in her heart and in the voice of nature.

When Tekakwitha was eighteen, Father de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary, came to Caughnawaga and established a chapel. Her uncle disliked the "Blackrobe" and his strange new religion, but tolerated the missionary's presence. Kateri vaguely remembered her mother's whispered prayers, and was fascinated by the new stories she heard about Jesus Christ. She wanted to learn more about Him and to become a Christian.

Father de Lamberville persuaded her uncle to allow Tekakwitha to attend religious instructions. The following Easter, twenty-year old Tekakwitha was baptized. Radiant with joy, she was given the name of Kateri, which is Mohawk for Catherine. 

Kateri's family did not accept her choice to embrace Christ. After her baptism, Kateri became the village outcast. Her family refused her food on Sundays because she wouldn't work. Children would taunt her and throw stones. She was threatened with torture or death if she did not renounce her religion.

Because of increasing hostility from her people and because she wanted to devote her life to working for God, in July of 1677, Kateri left her village and fled more than 200 miles through woods, rivers, and swamps to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal. Kateri's journey through the wilderness took more than two months. Because of her determination in proving herself worthy of God and her undying faith she was allowed to receive her First Holy Communion on Christmas Day, 1677.

Although not formally educated and unable to read and write, Kateri led a life of prayer and penitential practices. She taught the young and helped those in the village who were poor or sick. Kateri spoke words of kindness to everyone she encountered. Her favorite devotion was to fashion crosses out of sticks and place them throughout the woods. These crosses served as stations that reminded her to spend a moment in prayer.

Kateri's motto became, "Who can tell me what is most pleasing to God that I may do it?" She spent much of her time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling in the cold chapel for hours. When the winter hunting season took Kateri and many of the villagers away from the village, she made her own little chapel in the woods by carving a Cross on a tree and spent time in prayer there, kneeling in the snow. Kateri loved the Rosary and carried it around her neck always.

Often people would ask, "Kateri, tell us a story." Kateri remembered everything she was told about the life of Jesus and his followers. People would listen for a long time. They enjoyed being with her because they felt the presence of God. One time a priest asked the people why they gathered around Kateri in church. They told him that they felt close to God when Kateri prayed. They said that her face changed when she was praying. It became full of beauty and peace, as if she were looking at God's face.

On March 25, 1679, Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity, meaning that she would remain unmarried and totally devoted to Christ for the rest of her life. Kateri hoped to start a convent for Native American sisters in Sault St. Louis but her spiritual director, Father Pierre Cholonec discouraged her. Kateri's health, never good, was deteriorating rapidly. Father Cholonec encouraged Kateri to take better care of herself but she laughed and continued with her "acts of love."

The poor health which plagued her throughout her life led to her death in 1680 at the age of 24. Her last words were, "Jesus, I love You." Like the flower she was named for, the lily, her life was short and beautiful. Moments after dying, her scarred and disfigured face miraculously cleared and was made beautiful by God. This miracle was witnessed by two Jesuits and all the others able to fit into the room.
Kateri is known as "Lily of the Mohawks" or "Beautiful Flower Among True Men." The Catholic Church declared Kateri venerable in 1943. She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II. Kateri was canonized on October 21, 2012, thus becoming the first Native North American saint. Her feast is celebrated on July 14th in the United States. Pope John Paul II designated Blessed Kateri as a patroness for World Youth Day 2002.
Saint Kateri's tomb is found at St. Francis Xavier Mission in the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, near Montreal, Quebec. Saint Kateri is honored at the National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, New York and the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, New York.

"I am no longer my own. I have given myself entirely to Jesus Christ."

~ Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

 





And this is the most beautiful tree in the neighborhood right now :)