See? I’m catching up on road trip pictures!
So we may have taken the southern route home just to have dinner at Oregano’s in Flagstaff. (Oh yeah, and the girls’ tummies didn’t handle Nevada and Utah very well, either.)
Hillsdale Liberty Walk
Jun 18th, 2012 by ECM
Sometimes things are so cheesy that you just have to embrace the cheese. So when we were in Hillsdale last month, we did the liberty walk.
I don’t care if the Civil War statue isn’t technically part of the liberty walk. How many hundreds of outings started by meeting at the Civil War statue?
Honestly, how much did a donor have to pay to foist Thomas Jefferson upon campus?
Elizabeth insisted that the statue of Margaret Thatcher was her favorite. Probably less due to her public record and more due to the fact that she is wearing a skirt and pretty shoes.
Tommy’s Favorite President! Not that he doesn’t already have plenty of photo ops with Reagan at his favorite museum, just up the road!
It bears repeating: the kids and I are related to Winston Churchill.
So the kids had a good time, despite the cheesiness. There’s something particularly appropriate about having a photo shoot with my kids all over campus. Too bad my Mauck girls weren’t there with us to coordinate outfits and pick out ridiculous props. Next visit, photo shoot in the Arb!
Summer School
Jun 15th, 2012 by ECM
Tommy and I haven’t done much schoolwork lately, what with the month on the road and all, but as part of the Barnes and Noble kids summer program, Tommy has to read 8 books aloud to me and write a recommendation for each of them in his journal. I decided to make it handwriting practice, too. Maybe it’s the free book at the end of it, but he’s really into it! He’s also memorized just about all of Mark 1, he has 14 pages left in his math book, and we’re whizzing through phonics. Add in a bunch of art (the kids are really into painting these days), and you could say we’re in full-blown summer school mode.
Berry Face
Jun 13th, 2012 by ECM
I really will edit and post the rest of my Switzerland pictures, but until then, I’ll leave you with one of Susanna, my most enthusiastic berry picker!
Reviewing games
Jun 12th, 2012 by DTM
When reviewing board games for kids, we obviously want games that both parents and kids will like. But there are also a few things to consider, which I’ll try to mention in our discussion of each game. (Did I promise to do this a long time ago? I guess I did. It’s coming, as soon as I found some pictures taken months ago for the first few reviews.)
First age to play, with help for strategy: Manufacturers often have a recommended age, but most games are perfectly accessible to even younger gamers. But, those little gamers may need help with the strategy, such as instructing them where to place a piece or what tile to turn. Even then, it can be a fun game, but the child may need assistance at most stages of game play.
First age to play, with self-strategy: This age is the age at which the child can finally begin strategizing on his own and play the game largely unassisted. (Whether the child is terribly good at executing that strategy is a different issue.) Most of my reviews won’t be terribly useful in this regard because Tommy is still developing his strategizing skill.
Component loss likelihood: Let’s face it: in an often-messy house with multiple children, games get spilled. Components can get lost. And babies might try to eat or choke on pieces. So I’ll try to mention the likelihood that pieces will be lost.
Non-game play use: Games often have fun, attractive pieces. That might be good, because the game pieces are versatile and can serve as stand-alone toys; or that might be bad, because kids are likely to tear apart the games and carry the bits about the house.
Silliness likelihood: If kids are playing a game, there might a point in the game in which something silly occurs–like the toppling of a tower or the triggering of an alarm. If there are points in a game that might devolve into silliness and effectively end meaningful play of the game, I’ll mention it.
Kid ability to win: Can the kid win? That’s important. Parents can throw the games so their kids win (something I’m loathe to do). But at what stage can the child win on his own, unassisted? In a game like Candy Land, the child can win 50% of the time in a game against a parent because it’s based upon pure luck. Luckier games allow children to win more frequently; games of greater skill require more work from the child to win.
Four Dresses in Three Hours
Jun 11th, 2012 by ECM
Since Derek’s going to be gone for five days, I decided that we’re going to have all our meals outside this week so I can spread out all my sewing stuff on the kitchen table and sew, sew, sew.
My first attempts happened over naptime Sunday afternoon. I’ve been wanting to do a pillowcase dress for ages, and since Nona conveniently was getting rid of a bunch of double sheet sets last month, I pinched all the matching pillowcases with the intention of making matching dresses for the girls!
Attempt one was with elastic, using the binding as ties. The pattern I used was for a 3T, so I lengthened it a bit for Elizabeth and guessed for Susie. The smaller one ended up way shorter, but it’s still pretty cute with some little white bloomers.
I learned my lesson with the pink ones, so I adjusted the patterns and tried gathering the second batch with the ribbon I was using to tie. I think I like the neckline better on these. You can really tell with the purple ones how much less gather there is at the bottom of Elizabeth’s dress. If I were using fabric instead of being limited to the hemwidth of a pillowcase, I would make the bottom of hers a bit wider just so that she could have a bit more flare.
There you go–four dresses finished in three hours! Stay tuned for more sewing projects!
Winter Video Round-Up
Jun 10th, 2012 by ECM
It’s taken us far, far too long to put our winter videos up on youtube, but here are a few long-awaited ones! Thank you, Derek, for doing this before you left this morning!
The kids’ CBS Christmas program (E’s partner-in-crime, Ben, is to her left, and the two girls to her right are in her ballet class):
Susie crawling, back when it was exciting
Making Pizelles with Nona (22 minutes long, fair warning)
For Your Summer Reading Pleasure…
Jun 9th, 2012 by ECM
Remember how I listed 100 picture books we love and 51 chapter books we love? As an addendum, I just found this website, with a 1000 book list. Yes, one thousand. Granted, I have not read all these books, so I can’t attest to how well every single one aligns with our values, but I like the sound of this:
The criteria we used to judge inclusion are: Does the book have literary value? Does the book re-emphasize a Biblical worldview or the Judeo-Christian heritage in some way? Does the book teach, through whatever means, what is moral or just or true? Does the book encourage to love and good works? Does the book exemplify warmth, tenderness, courage, humor, and other values and characteristics that we desire our children to be exposed to? Does the book nourish the intellect and fire the imagination? Does the book cross age barriers to be enjoyed by all?
I’ve printed the primary lists off and plan to take them in to the library Monday when we go sign up for the summer reading program. I’ll report back if there are any particularly exciting finds!
Hillsdale Kids!
Jun 8th, 2012 by ECM
While at Hillsdale, we took advantage of the college bookstore to properly outfit everyone. The kids insisted that they all wanted to wear their Hillsdale shirts together!
Fun times in Colorado
Jun 6th, 2012 by ECM
Our last major stop on the roadtrip was in Denver (to see Uncle Matthew) and Colorado Springs (to see the Franciscos). Elizabeth and I got to attend Geneva’s ballet recital on Saturday, and Elizabeth is still talking about it nonstop, dancing around the house for hours with a picture of Geneva in hand for inspiration. I came away, as usual, totally inspired by Christina’s heart for hospitality and how saturated her life is with scripture and prayer. Most fun on this trip was that the Franciscos found out they are having a boy while we were there! We are so excited for them!
