Deck the Halls...

The halls have been decked and all is bright! I love this time of year!

From Christmas 2012

Christmas Decorating 2012

Elizabeth and Eliana are decorating up a storm today.  Elizabeth told Eliana that she always wanted to have a little girl to decorate with.  Today it's happening.

Not her father's Saturday morning cartoons

On this day after Thanksgiving, Eliana awoke to break her fast on the slice of pumpkin pie she had been talking about ever since stuffing herself at dinner yesterday.  She then went on to try to make paper snowflakes and airplanes.  She's still struggling with precise folding so that didn't go so well.  Next she turned to her box of musical instruments.  I woke up to the sound of her playing Kindermusic songs on her xylophone and maracas.  When I came down for breakfast, I was recruited to help her make a better paper airplane and then to convert it into a kite-like device.  Once she tired of spinning in circles with that, she asked if she could watch "How It's Made" on Netflix.  I told her it was fine once she cleaned up everything she'd gotten out.  She did a great job.  Now as she learns about the making of aluminium foil, snowboards, contact lenses, and bread, I hear a constant stream of "beautiful", "wow", "cool", and "pretty" from the den.

When I learned that I was going to have a daughter, I pictured a house full of dolls and dress-up.  We've got plenty of that.  I didn't expect to get the girl that also loves paper airplanes, documentaries, and math.  Of course the paper airplanes must be colored.  When the airplane is converted to a kite, it's with metallic ribbon, not string.  The footage of a glowing crucible is more likely to get a "beautiful!" than an "awesome!" When given the choice of activities to pass the time while getting the car's oil changed, she picked a math workbook over a coloring book.  Once she's completed each sheet to her satisfaction, she adorns it with myriad stars and hearts, the shapes she's currently proudest of being able to draw.

Colonial Feast

One of the joys I have in life right now is the freedom to be active in Eliana's classroom activities. Today was the Kindergarten and First Grade Colonial Feast. Last year I was a bystander, so this year I was able to take a much more active role in putting together this fun event for the kids and taking some of the strain off the teachers. What a blessing that is! The first graders have been learning about the colonists and the first Thanksgiving. To make the event a little more authentic, the students draped large napkins over their shoulders and laps, ate out of wooden dishes, and used shells as their utensils. They also got to sample authentic colonial food such as duck jerky, hasty pudding, berries, and wild game. We had 25 students, plus younger siblings and parents who attended the feast. It was fun for all!!

Schematic

Eliana just chalkboarded for me her method of putting away laundry. As she drew each object, she'd label it in cursive with the initial letter or two. I was so proud to see her thinking through a big job and breaking it into smaller, linear steps.