It has been gray, rainy and cold for what seems like weeks now (really it has only been almost a week, but for this mama who is sooo affected by sun or lack thereof, it feels like forever!). But we have been managing to keep ourselves busy none-the-less. Some form of baking occurs several times a week, usually muffins or occasionally cookies in addition to our weekly bread making. And I never have a shortage of help in the kitchen. Parker and MaKenna especially enjoy baking with me and I try to let them do everything themselves. Kenna has now started to ask before we start, no matter what we are making, "do we need to knead it mama?" Kneading is her favorite part...and mine too :-) As of late, we enjoyed chocolate chip banana muffins and chocolate chip butternut squash muffins.
And most often than not, sink play follows up baking...naturally. The other day, MaKenna discovered the wonder that is the sink sprayer. I made the mistake of leaving the kitchen only to return to a mini flood. Lesson learned ;-)
This morning the boys and I were busy with main lessons and I looked over to see Kenna occupying herself with the basket of embroidery floss. Usually, she tangles up a bunch of floss or grabs some only to cut it up into tiny pieces. But she sat there for at least a half hour and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she was so happily busy until I noticed...she had gotten a hold of a tapestry needle and threaded it! She told me she "licked it and stuck it through". Blake and I were super impressed and asked her if she wanted to make a button necklace. She said yes and we both picked out buttons while she threaded them through. The only help she needed was tying a knot at the end! And she was so proud of her necklace, as was I! Grandparents, be prepared for gifts in the future, this girls has plans!
Jacob and Parker have been engaging in lots of imaginary play as of late. I love seeing what sorts of plans they work out and how they go about the house busily collecting everything they need. Today, an elaborate log cabin was constructed complete with enough fire wood to last through the winter and a garden large enough to have enough food for them to eat. They worked hard at stacking firewood pile after firewood pile and even reconstructed the whole thing after baby sister accidentally fell into their home.
And I suppose all that talk of gardening inspired some real garden play in the yard. Today the clouds parted, the sun came out and treated us to some warm weather which was perfect for getting out the shovels and hoes and playing in the mud. What started as a simple digging up of the yard soon led into grand plans of a children's garden. I was told they would plant all sorts of vegetable plants, including ones I like to eat like tomatoes, a banana and an apple tree. Tomorrow, there is more gardening work to be done and I am starting to feel the need to dig in the earth too. Soon enough, we will be sowing seeds in earnest.
Can you read what the sign says? "please don't come in". Jacob wrote that...it was mostly meant for me. The little kids had set up a cargo room in the school room and it was all blocked off with chairs and jump ropes. I am not sure exactly what a cargo room is, but the school table was covered with rocks, shells, feathers, nuts, and gems. I was informed on several occasions not to come in. Then a little while later Jacob was walking around with two cats following him, Treats and Pretty. They seemed like nice cats. They certainly didn't cause as much trouble as Chloe.
This week, we are finishing up our math block before moving on to Norse Myths with Blake and a late winter nature block with Jacob. The kids are also being wisked away to my parents for 5 days! I have lots of plans for while they are gone...decluttering, sewing, lesson planning, dates with Peter, knitting, knitting, knitting on Blake's birthday sweater and possibly a bit of painting. But I know I will miss them terribly as well. It always is too quiet when they are gone.
