Although the house is a complete wreck, we have a wall to remind me to count the blessings.
Back in early November, we added two sets of Helping Hands Wreaths to our art gallery wall,
which appears to have just about wrapped up a little project I started over two years ago. Now that it’s full, I suppose it’s time to start switching out masterpieces? It really is amazing to gaze upon this “Recall Wall” and remember. So many memories I walk past every day.
How can time pass so quickly?
This week (or sometime in November, anyway) we seized the opportunity to see what life is like for children living in poverty in Kenya and the Philippines via the Compassion Experience.
This glimpse of raw reality was compelling, powerful, painful. Each true story filled me with hope and wonder at how God works so amazingly through His people. (I only wish a rated G version of these stories were available for families with young children.)
School memoirs remain fuzzy in my sleep-deprived mind, but thank goodness for a few photos to help me along here!
Stephen finally added the northeastern states to his draw-from-memory-freehand U.S. map and is now working on improving the accuracy of his drawing.
I have only mastered up to the stack of states from New Mexico to Montana, but Stephen keeps telling me I am doing a better job than he is. (Bless his heart!)
The other two boys surprised me with some self-directed geography practice when they made up their own states-and-capitals matching games with this Melissa & Doug Wooden USA Map Puzzle. The back of the board lists facts (motto, statehood, etc.) for each state, and the puzzle pieces include the state’s name and nickname. The state’s capital is listed only on the board, which provides a convenient built-in method of testing their knowledge.
The boys start earning Wii/iPad time for memory work review. They earn one minute for each piece of memory work they can recite correctly. Before they can redeem it, though, the house has to be clean. (Honestly, this method works very well for us.)
During November (and December) we read quite a few books about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War…
- Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale is a favorite because we have actually played in the creek where this story takes place.
- Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln is another favorite picture book that includes quotes by Lincoln.
- We read Robert E Lee -Gallant Christian Soldier (Sowers) together as a family, but it was not an easy read-aloud for us even though it is a great biography. I found that Who Was Abraham Lincoln?, Who Was Robert E. Lee? and Who Was Ulysses S. Grant? are easier read-alouds for the age range and maturity of our children (and these books contain interesting historical fact insets and illustrations).
- For Isaac, we have a board book called The Story of Robert E. Lee. (I am quite amused with myself in finding a biography for a six-month old. In fact, the author has other biography board books available!)
For drawing practice, Draw Write Now, Book 5: The United States, from Sea to Sea, Moving Forward has simple step-by-step instructions for drawing several people and events from American history. These are great to use with our Comic Illustration Notebook Pages!
Hand in Hand: An American History Through Poetry has been a welcome addition to our personal library, since we’re attempting to include more poetry in our studies this year. This collection of poems ranges from the Pilgrims through our trip to space.
Let’s see… other things that happened at the beginning of November…
Well, I flooded the kitchen in an effort to “shine the sink.” I really did. I plugged up the sink, turned on the water, and just walked away. (Stephen discovered my mishap several minutes later.) Seeing how we just recently remodeled the kitchen, I was appalled at my absentmindedness (but not surprised by it). Fortunately, the only damage was to the cabinet under the sink…
which, by the next morning, had fixed itself. Hopefully I won’t make that mistake again. {Here I am, once again reminded that those little advertisements we get in the mail from Merry Maids? …the ones that say, “the wrong person is cleaning your house…?” Well, I’m thinking there’s a lot of truth to that.}
To help me feel better about myself, Levi made me a lovely bouquet of wild onions…
(I actually think this bouquet was unrelated to the kitchen incident, but I can’t remember because I have waited so long to write about what happened in November. But there’s a photo, so surely I had something very important to say about it?)
I think I’ve maxed myself out now! Aside from a big dose of strep throat for the whole family (less Gary because he was in Brazil at the time), who knows what else happened in November? All I know is… Isaac makes one cute little Mike Wazowski!
