Keeping It Simple

So, this is the my final post for the 2011 Picture Book Challenge and the final post on this blog until the new year. I am going to take a nice long blogging break to enjoy the rest of advent and then the Christmas season. Here are a few of our "just for fun" Christmas reads- Mr. Putter and Tabby Bake the Cake by Cynthia Rylant I just love Mr. Putter books. The boys and I took turns reading this easy reader to each other. We all enjoyed the story about Mr. Putter making the perfect gift for Mrs.Teaberry. Baseball Bats for Christmas by  Michael Kusugak I also love a book that introduces us to something or someone that we are not familiar with. This book, written about a true story from the author's childhood, tells about Christmas in 1955 in Repulse Bay. In a land with no standing-ups (trees), who can imagine why 6 of them would be delivered at Christmas time? This book not only tells the story about these trees made into bats, it gives a interesting peek in to...

Horse lessons really are like a weekly field trip for us. While I am not sure that we are meant for the country life, we all enjoy hanging out at the stables. I am constantly surprised at how much there is to learn- from how to form the right knot for the right job to which tool to use for which grooming purpose, there is so much detail to learn and remember. And, of course, the safety procedures that probably seem second nature to those who are around horses regularly. It was quite a feat for the younger two boys just to learn to keep attentive to what they are doing at all times.   Yep. Scooping the poop is all part of the deal!   He's not really all that cheerful about it, but, for some reason,  was hamming for the camera.  A job well done!   While the younger two boys were scooping, Paul was riding.   Taking shoes off got a response in a previous post-  these are the shoes.  ...

I am rarely conflicted on which blog to post something on. This time I was... to read about our good notes and not so good ones, you can visit here . ;) I'd love to share. 

We arrived in Half Moon Bay a few hours before the predicted negative tide and  walked around the Cypress trees.   When the kids were just about to bust because they couldn't wait to  get down to the beach, we headed that direction.   Although it was not peak low tide yet, there was plenty of sea life to be found.   Each treasure was handled carefully and left in its place!   We never got tired of searching the little pools for sea life.  It is kind of like an "I Spy" book- you have to look carefully to find everything.   Frank (hubby) and a family friend admiring their finds.  (just to reassure you- no sticks were used to touch actual sea life. Only to point.)   And  a chart was consulted to get more specific identifications- there  were also park rangers present to help.   This guy was holding on for dear life- just not to...

I won't be posting much this week for our Korea study (we are pretty much done), but I thought I'd share these links that we found useful in our study- A great post from Boston Mamas on Korean Culture for Kids Which led to this Traditional Korean Sam Taeguk fan craft   at 4 Crazy Kings blog + more Korean crafts and games  And this awesome coloring page of traditional clothes  Crayola has country  flag coloring pages  Also from Crayola this craft of the South Gate of Seoul And another fan craft from Crayola too! Some pictures and information from one of our favorite resources, National Geographic Kids We also used YouTube. I mentioned in another post  that we used the picture book K is for Korea for a jumping off point to search some fun videos.

a new card game to get us through the stomach flu! Those who were able to sit up without... you know... played this fun game to help pass the time- Fun stuff! I am thankful for lots of other things too, but right now I am just glad that everyone is up and well!

Jen, from Forever, For Always, No Matter What , invited me to join her and a few other Catholic blogging ladies in an advent project. I was nervous to commit (being a rather casual blogger, I felt way out of my league!), but happy and honored to be asked. I am wowed by what these ladies put together. If you would like to take a look, click on the picture. It will take you to Jen's Advent 2011 post, and her blog will link you to all the other participants. You'll see my contribution linked at "Catholic Baby Steps". 

Monday- Horse lessons. I mention this each week, but it is a large part of what makes our week fun. I confess that I am not super excited to leave the house at 8:15 and be gone all morning (yes, call me a spoiled homeschool mom!), but it is so worth it. Mark and James took a leap in responsibility this week when their teacher asked them to finish cleaning the stall by themselves while she took Paul up for his lesson. This probably means nothing to any country folks out there, but to my city boys, it is big stuff. Paul is also moving toward independence in caring for the horse he rides- he usually unsaddles her, grooms her, and does the care-taking (things like removing the shoes she wears and putting lotion on her hooves) at the end of his lesson on his own. I am not sure where we are going with this, but it has been a wonderful experience for the boys. Tuesday-  Note to self- no doctor appts.in the a.m. when avoidable. Once I leave the house, it is...