milwaukee

I have been quite busy for the past month wrapping up the semester and chasing my babies.

But I'm back, mostly to share this. And to tell the city of Milwaukee to pound sand.

 

stay

Our move towards homeschooling is going so well! I've linked up with the local homeschool group and am looking forward to bringing the girls to their first kids event with the group tomorrow. Brian went to a parents meeting with me last night, and it's SO great to have him fully on board too.

Today Libby and I had a tea party while Makenzie napped, and discussed homeschooling some more. I was telling Libby that we are heading to the park tomorrow with some kids who don't go to school, and explained to her what they do. (We have already talked about Mommy being her teacher, not going to school, etc., and she is THRILLED at that prospect. She started protesting going to school months ago, which was what led to this decision. Just want to be clear that she isn't being dragged away from school against her will. ;) ) Anyway, I told her that there would be lots of kids there, kids who are homeschooled--that don't go to school, but stay home with their siblings and learn with their families. Her response? "I want to be like those kids, Mom!!!" There was more substance to the conversation than that, but I feel like that gives you the general tone. :)

Tea party--we drank homemade iced green tea. Libby set the table with her play silks, and we quickly pulled some dandelions out of the backyard for our centerpiece. Sure, they are weeds. But we like them all the same.

bunny

The girls had a great Easter this year, complete with bunny ears, a real bunny (named Peanut Cottontail by Libby), new tutus made by Mommy, a new swingset, and gorgeous weather.

soapy

Today was my last day of spring break, so we packed the rainy day with fun indoor activities.

This morning we talked about the story of Easter and colored. Then when Makenzie napped, Libby and I did wet-felted Easter eggs. It was our first attempt at wet-felting, and by the last egg we were doing much better than we were when we started. I think later this week we may do some wet-felted balls and let Makenzie help. Libby loved playing with the soapy water and working the felt.

Here they are when we finished. The pink strand of wet felt is a necklace Libby made all by herself while I did the hard felting.


Later in the day was gymnastics, aka the highlight of Libby's week.



For dinner we had a delicious quiche, made with fresh eggs our friends were nice enough to give us from their chickens. I blew the eggs, and we dyed them after dinner.

Makenzie yelled "look, look!" while she dyed.


Once the eggs were dried, I took all today's new eggs and put them in a nice basket on our table with the beeswax eggs we made a couple weeks ago. It looks so pretty!! I love it.

march

Spring in New England is here! We've had a bit of everything in the past couple weeks--temps ranging from the 30s to mid 70s, and skies ranging from bright sun to massive rains and wind. Even in the wind/cold/rain, March is always amazing--that light at the end of the tunnel is peeking through. The sun at the end of a rainy day (today), or the warm sunny day between rain storms when you walk around in tank tops and grill, and run barefoot outside... And with that, an open letter to March.

Dear March,

I love you.

Thanks,
Me.


Moving right along....

We have done a ton of fun projects and trips, and have lots more coming up. We hit the aquarium and Old Mystic for a day of sea creatures and shopping, and went to Higgins Armory and learned about knights and castles. We made pine cone bird feeders, started our garden plantings, made our beeswax Easter candles, melted crayons to make our own (less expensive) version of block crayons, dyed silks, did a lot of painting, and made green beer bread for Saint Patrick's Day. We played outside (a lot), had pajama/sleepover day in the living room, learned to make pig faces, Makenzie started making an adorable "say cheese" face, did foam art (with John Freida hair mousse because I was too lazy to go upstairs and get Brian's shaving cream), had a campfire outside and roasted marshmallows, ate dinner outside, read, snuggled, and mostly HAD FUN!

And now, an over-sized photo update of the above:





/> />

molly

Spring has been amazing! We had beautiful weather over the weekend, and have been doing a lot of great stuff. But, I'm too lazy to upload pictures right now.

So, meet Molly. She has hatched 2 babies so far, with more on the way. Libby and I are obsessed with watching.

Molly

venture

It is officially decided. I cut Libby's preschool schedule back from 5 days a week to 2 days a week. We will continue this schedule until the end of this school year, in an attempt to phase school out gradually with no major shifts. The summer will be the perfect time to make the transition into full-fledged homeschoolers. I am very, very excited about this venture and very proud of myself for putting so much thought, time, and effort into researching the decision. I can not wait to officially get started.

At home we've been having fun letting the girls guide their daily activities. Puff balls, painting and time outside have been favorites lately, as well as playdates and "field trips" to the aquarium and children's museum. Tomorrow we are hoping to get to the park and enjoy some of the gorgeous weather we are having. I love New England!