Sweet Sisterly Moments

A couple weeks ago Sissy earned herself a punishment that consisted of weeding the strawberry patch. Of course she had been putting it off until the last minute and today her minute was up. Apparently she asked Peanut if she wanted to come outside and play while she was working. Peanut agreed (because she is the agreeable one in the bunch) and proceeded to walk out back with books in one hand an a blanket in the other. As I was cleaning in the kitchen and looked out the window I saw this scene from the house.

I decided to creep closer and see what was going on. The closer I got, I realized that I was witnessing a wonderful moment of sisterhood. Peanut was reading aloud to Sissy as she was doing her work. Isn't that the sweetest thing you have ever seen?

Just after snapping this picture the girls noticed me "eavesdropping". So, I asked Sissy to come on over so I could get a picture of the two of them together. This is what I captured. I'm so thankful for cameras! Pictures like these are the things that home school days are made of.

YUCK..Snakes!

For the record, I'm terrified of snakes. Not just a little scared, not just a bit squeamish, but full fledged fetal position - rocking in the corner kind of terrified. I nearly lost it yesterday when my husband yelled, "I've got a baby gardener snake if anyone wants to come see it!" My initial thought was, "What?!? Why would anyone want to come see it?" That is when I heard Peanut say, "OOOH, how cute, a baby snake!" CUTE?!? Seriously? YUCK!

Well, the girls got to check it out in the bottom of the wheelbarrow. I tried to walk close and check it out, I did see it but just the sight of it made my skin crawl and I felt sick. Needless to say, this next picture was not taken by me and it makes me nauseated just posting it!

My point (really, I didn't post this just to share with you how much of a baby I am) is that I LOVE moments like this! I love seeing them all together exploring together. Ahhhh....

New Family Members

Awwwww, look what we got!

Yep, 6 sweet little chicks. Aren't they cute? A few years ago my husband announced that he wanted a few chickens and I thought he was nuts! I have never had a desire to have any farmish animals. A dog is just fine for me. But, we have dear friends who have chickens and whenever they go out of town for vacation we drive over and take care of their birds. Chickens are just the sweetest things. So, we thought we would try it this year. We ordered 2 Buff Orpingtons (the yellow ones), a couple Silver Wyandottes, a Black Australorp and one Araucana which believe it or not, lay colored eggs!

The girls have already chosen "their chicks" and named them. Sweet Baby and Sissy chose the Orpingtons. Sissy is the only one who has named hers and she chose Yellow Daisy for its name. Last year we spent some time talking about birds and their feathers. They are already losing their downy feathers and you can see their flight feathers are coming in as well as tail feathers! What fun.

Break for the Artists

Our last co-op meeting for this school year was Tuesday. As much as we enjoy co-op, it will be nice to have a break for the last month of school. The kids always get gym and art through our co-op and they all really enjoyed art this year.




Sissy and Peanut didDiscovering Great Artists . This is a great program that takes various artists, explains a bit about them and their style of art and then the children try to create art in a similar medium. They experimented with paint, ink chalks,





Sweet Baby was lucky enough to do Storybook Art in which the teacher reads a children's storybook to the kids and then they create a picture using similar mediums as the illustrator did in the book. You can see that Sweet Baby is holding up her rendition of a caterpillar from The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This particular program is so sweet that the kindergartners and first graders will be doing it again next year!

Easter Pictures

I have realized that I have been very negligent in updating our blog over the last couple weeks. I never even shared Easter pictures with you! So, here are a few of everyone dressed for church.

Sweet Baby looking not so much like a baby anymore (sniff, sniff)...

Peanut...

Sissy...

Great Bible for Young Readers

I was recently at a used curriculum sale and happened to spot a Bible that was in really good condition for only $4. Peanut is a really great reader and has been since kindergarten but of course just because she can read the words does not mean she can comprehend it all. To be fair, there are many of us adults who can read the Bible and cannot understand it all! She has a Bible of her own, but I never see her reading it because she doesn't understand it. When I found this one at the sale it looked like it would be a good one for a young reader so I brought it home.

I have been delighted to find Peanut reading her new Bible whenever the mood strikes her. She can often be found reading it aloud to all her stuffed animals! If you have been looking for a good Bible for a child who is reading at least at the 2nd-3rd grade level, this might be a good fit for your family - The Adventure Bible For Young Readers by Zonderkidz. In addition to being a full translation of the Bible it has interesting little text boxes throughout that give extra information about people in the Bible, particular scriptures that are short enough to do as memory work, illustrations and a "Let's Live It" section that is a short devotional based on the scriptures that have been read. I have a few more used curriculum sales to go to this season. I'll be keeping my eyes open for another good price on a Bible just like this one for Sweet Baby.