The Kate Effect

Book Crush: Draw.Write.NOW

Today's crush is on a series of book that SHow how to DRAW an animal, then WRITE about that animal. It's awesomeness is blew my mind. Kate and I already have a journal page we do on a semi-daily basis. It's simple. Kate draws something and then she writes something.

I have to tell you that this is THE MOST FAVORITE-IST thing we do. seriously. 

I love disciphering each word and sentence. Since last Spring we have seen Kate's handwriting change and smooth out - often times I am able to hone in on a letter she is getting a bad habit about. Her words are phonetically spelled which means they are often wrong but she is getting her sounds and really putting to use. She suddenly started using periods one day and even commas. I was corrected when reading her journal page out loud one day because I did not pause long enough where she had placed a comma.

I love hearing what she is thinking about. It's all amazing.

This book series is a little challenging for Kate since the sentences are big and full - and she has to copy the text rather than forge ahead on her own - but I love it and I think that many kids through elementary would enjoy it.

Being the artsy type - I really enjoy the drawing portion. Kate has really grown in her confidence in drawing new things. She is pretty confident in most thing but she doesn't like to mess up her drawings or not have them come out the way she imagines them. I believe that just doing the step by step drawing she has (without talking about it or teaching it) gained a foundation for how objects can be drawn from shapes, how to connect the shapes and proportions.  

All of the books have a theme - this one was animals in different environments....river, pond, dry grassland, ocean. It is great supportive material for any study.

As if drawing, writing and facts were not enough....

The book even talks about how to create backgrounds and perspective.... See the right hand page - it's showing/teaching the 'Rule of Thirds'. The photographer in me just squealed. 

find, check out & enjoy.

Book Crush: America's Women

This book crush is for the adults. This THICK book is filled with stories, antidotes and facts about American history beginning with the first woman to step off a ship in the 1600's. The joys... the misconceptions... the horrors unspeakable - all in a fight to be apart of this nation. 

Multiple times I would slam this book shut and think 'humanity is stupid.' How often do we repeat the same flawed thoughts? 

Every time I am brought right back to remember that while we are extremely flawed we have a gracious and merciful God who has gone to the greatest lengths to make a way for us. A way to be redeemed, restored and forgiven. Before reading this book, my concept of this was so very broad. I got it, but not in the detailed and haunting way I do at this moment. We are truly lost in every way. Some of the things that seemed obvious and logical a hundred years ago are completely ridiculous. Yet, how many things do we regard as common knowledge that later will seem unthinkable.

This is just my reaction to the text - I need to make it clear that it is under no certain terms a christian written or slanted book. It reads more like a news article or history book. Maybe not as dry but it is not partial to christians or any faith or race. It speaks of the lives of indians, colonist, pioneers, slaves of all kinds, plantation wives, writers, doctors... anyone who had a voice or wrote a thought in their diary regarding the lives of women.

I am curious to how much to the text will stay with me and for how long. Right now it is so fresh in mind that it colors my thoughts. For instance.... 

Upon hearing a girl talk about giving birth and say "women have been doing this for 100s of years with just a midwife..." I am immediately flooded with thoughts about how childbirth has changed over time. If only this girl had the slightest clue what birth a hundred years ago looked like. Would she really be so flippant to think our current medical technology as inconvenient? What would she say about the way the medical community has gained it's experience - for it was not an easy or humane road.

This book has lifted the veil and made me think hard about life in those varies time periods. It's more than the thrill of making butter like a pioneer - it's the wonder that the pioneer woman survived at all. I learned pioneers heading West were often middle to upper class families because they had the money to actually purchase the wagon and supplies. These were fine ladies not poor waifs. Ladies who society expected to be genteel proper. Yet they braved a land where they would be pushed to the limits physically emotionally, often times end up in a home with dirt floors and no husband to speak of.

If you like to learn things. If you enjoy history. If you are a woman and feel at times that life is unfair. This book is, at it's very least, a really interesting read.

a texas girl meets the rain.

I ran across these pictures from our Florida trip in September - Kate is dancing in the pouring rain during our vacation. I remember watching her and feeling so torn. I was laughing at her joy and excitement for the rain - such a special thing for Texans who were still enduring a draught back home - but my heart could not be completely joyful. In those very same moments devastating fires were raging all over the hill country. It was so hard to enjoy the rain when our hearts were so heavy and our minds anxious for news. It was truly bittersweet.

Book Crush: Emily's Everyday Manners

Mind your Manners!  - I find myself wanting to say this lately but slightly frustrated because Kate seemly oblivious about what I am talking about. Sure she know what generally is polite and not. We have had to work through ALOT of social situation that she was not comfortable with from the very beginning and she has come INCREDIBLY far.         

    Still there are so many thing that I don't even realize I expect but we have never gone over - because we had just never run into that situation before....

      But there we are int he middle of a slightly awkward moment and Kate staring up at me like  "What?"

So when I saw this book and thumbed thru it - I got a little excited. It's  concise and has good explinations and funny little excerpts of what is not ok to do. 

     Most importantly it does not focus on being "good" or "perfect" but making people feel comfortable and at ease. It's just the right age for Kate and has situations she is running into like having friends over, being a flower girl or the dreaded family hug from that one person :)

It was a great jumping off point and we could read the page and then talk talk talk about things we might do in our lives. 

This one book turned into a five day little series of manners lessons. Only she didn't know they were lessons because we dressed up in the play clothes and role played.

Bottom line: I really like this book.

 

Artsy Fartsy

I taught Kate the phrase Artsy Fartsy. Definitely regretting that one. She is using quite often. Mostly to refer to me. 

This is a little portrait Kate did of me and her...adorable.

Below is my watercolor picture of my orange mixer. I love that appliance. Technically the color is persimmon which makes all the difference.

 

lemonade stand

it was neighborhood garage sale day and Kate was up bright and early to man her lemonade stand. there is only a tiny bit of chocolate on her lips bearing witness to the sprinkle donut she scarfed for breakfast.

kate and her friend nate - he lives across the street and his mom sold gourmet cupcakes on our side walk - because you just have to have lemonade with your cupcake :)

Kate did a REALLY good job and made quite a bit of money. more than I expected. she definately has the entrepreneur spirit. 

 

the thinking sombrero.

All fun and games.

Brad asked Kate how her day was and Kate said "Great, we didn't do any of that boring school work!" 

I came to a full stop and Brad looked at me quizzically while I mimed that we DID do school that day and I had no idea what she was talking about. After a little chatting I realized Kate has completely flip-flopped on me. Remember how I was thrown for a loop when she really liked and wanted worksheets...if it didn't have a worksheet she didn't consider it schoolwork. She also LOVED math and HATED science.

Well, now she complains that she hates MATH and loves science  - and worksheets are awful because they make her hand hurt.

She also had come to the conclusion that because we play math games and did all our school work around the house that it wasn't the boring stuff.... which she says is anything she has to sit at the desk to do.

Oh, My how the tables have turned. She such a typical kid now.

Despite her claims, she is doing really well in math and conquering all the concepts solidly. Her reading is going great and her handwriting is smoothing out. Her confidence in writing is building.... and it's all coming really naturally.

I would say the hardest part right now is just the everyday parenting that happens. She has a mind of her own and idea or plan for everything. Clashing happens often - especially since we are both very independent. But even that - as exhausting and frustrating as it can be is a joy. I am glad I am able to clash with her and work through our days together. We are challenging each other and it has nothing to do with academics - yet we are learning LOADS.

This is my favorite math assignment so far.... every time she had to write the number 6 she drew 'a party' around it because she turns 6 at the end of October. We giggled for a full minute over this when she brought it to me.

Vacation Jar

It's been just over a month since our vacation to the Florida beaches and I finally sat down to put  our Vacation Jar together. I saw this idea on Pinterest and I could not wait to make one for Kate's first visit to the beach. I am glad I spotted the idea before leaving on vacation so that we could keep our eyes out for interesting items to bring back - otherwise it might have just been one shell. Not even two shells - just one.

Thankfully I had the idea floating in my brain and when we spotted the little crab and sea urchin all dried up we scooped them up and CAREFULLY go them home. This was not easy.

I love the simplicity of the whole thing. The jar is a vintage Ball jar that I picked up in Round Top (a bi-annual antique fair here in Texas - it's huge, like most things in Texas).  The photos are from her first day at the beach in Florida. There is one photo with the wave receded and on the other side is the same photo only the tide has come in over her feet. I hope to never forget her in that sweet striped swimsuit.

I purchased three more jars and I am already planning our next vacation. Wouldn't a shelf of vacation jars be awesome?!?

heres the crab the day we found it.

Book Crush: The Perfect Pony

I am not sure why I do this to myself but I do.  I go to the library, stumble upon a book that has ponies or horses and slide it into our book basket. My first thought is: Kate will love this! 

Of course she will love it - she loves ponies. 

The repercussions of such book choices are grave. Choosing this book will spur on DAYS of requesting horseback riding lessons. To make matters worse...the books usually have a heroine name Kate or Katie. I am not sure why but more often than not we crack open a book to fin Kate's name.

Thankfully Kate stopped asking for a horse and has settled for horseback riding lessons. This is a much more attainable but still lofty goal.

All of that to say... here is another good book about ponies.

Yes, the main character is named Katie.

The Perfect Pony by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

It is a sweet little book about finding 'just the right' pony  - which sometimes requires looking passed the outward appearances. It's cute and the mom is prodding,wise and PRESENT. I am a very tired of stories/cartoons/books where adults are not mentioned.  Kate is constantly asking "Where is their mom and dad...are they an orphan?"  Often time the answer is: No they are not an orphan their mom and dad are just not supervising them or paying attention.

I am pretty sure we will have to do this horse "thing" soon.  wish me luck.

 

Acorns + Fall Palette

these are my current color crushes. I am not saying they are on trend this fall or the best colors ever....just that I can't seem to remove them from my brain. I am trying to 'set up house' and create so many things for this new home. My biggest fear is waking up some time next year and wigging out over the colors I used. It's so hard to be clear headed about my hue choices right now. 

So I have been painting acorns. We have a lovely little bowl of colored acorns now. I find myself wandering the long way around to get to the kitchen so I can get a glimpse or run my finger through them. I really, really like them. They are a small bit of warm in my stark little dining area.

* if your inspired to do your own painted acorns I highly suggest you take the acorn hats off before painting and then gluing the same hat back on. here's a bit of wisdom:  separate, paint and glue back together in an organize fashion. do not make a pile of hats and nuts... then you will never find the ones that fit together the right way. In the end you have left over lonely hats and nuts that don't go together...it's quite tragic.

Lego Lab 1

recently I took kate to the library for an after school activity - Lego Lab. We stood in line and then all 50 kids + parents piled into a room when the doors open. The kids swarmed the legos spread out on the tables and the parents sat in chairs around the parameter. Kate jumped in and started building - the kids were not really talking to each other just building ... maybe enjoying doing it among other people. There were instructions on how to build things on the table but most made up their own creations. Kate finished her object, wrote her name on a piece of paper and turned them in to be placed in the glass cabinet display until next Lego Lab. 

Kate loved it. 

I felt lazy. I mean - I just sat there. She didn't want my help and she didn't talk to others. I bothered the other moms around me - who honestly were happy their kids were occupied and slightly irritated that I was chatty. Yet, Kate played with the legos and built something fast - with more enjoyment than she had ever done at home.

There was something to this. So I let the idea ferment in my head and then sent out some invites to...

my very own LEGO LAB.

We have a bazillion legos and friends that I would like to chat with. Why not have it at my house. 

Better yet, why not take photos of the kids with their creations - have themes to build or even work together on one big lego project.

yes, this was an idea to try. 

So we did it and it was great. kids built - kids played... kids ran through my house giggling and squealing. I was happy. It was nice to chat with my friends too - people who I am not annoying!

Definitely doing this again. Watch out.... ideas are spinning in my head. 

 

this is a jail/police  mobile - it goes on land and water...there is  jail cell and the two motorcycles can detach and chase criminals. nice. made by Tyler

this is also a water/land/air mobile...which I believe time travels due to all the men from various time eras. made by Grant

this is a cute couple on a date - i think they were watching the sunset - I love the motorcycle leaning over with the helmet hanging off the handle bars. awesome Jenna.

Right hand photo is of a James bond type guy on his speed boat.... or plane. by jon.

Kates cracks me up... something about a bunch of horses dying and then this guy fell off and they put him on a stretcher and the doctor is coming to see him. that is... if the henchman doesn't get him with that axe.

More of jon's awesome creations...Van with lifting door...space ship - I really like that one.

Josh's Police mobile!! We went to a police department tour that morning so Policemen were on the brain.

Sweet Grace made a Laundry Mat with a washing machine!! too cute.

I missed getting photos of the three other kiddos but they all together made a fantastic bunch of kids. 

and they cleaned up the massive box of legos we have before they left...Oh they can come over ANYTIME!!

Round Top + Baby for Sale, Will Barter

Round Top. I don't even know where to begin. I used to think it was a "antique fair" - a big one. Then I realized it was a city in Texas, which has an antique "event". After years of missing the chance to go I finally made it to "Round Top" and learned that the more literal translation is: Miles and miles of tents filled with junk + old stuff from all over the country spanning multiple small towns on a two lane road. 

WHOA. It was like the best mixture of heaven and hell on earth. Hellish due to the heat, dust, allergies - not to mention the traffic on a two lane road in rural Texas. Heavenly because as long as you have great company for the traffic - the miles and miles of junk + old stuff is AMAZING.

My two buddies and I headed out on the last day of 'Round Top' and spent lovely hours wandering around. I was too busy spying things to even photograph it. I was smitten with this 8 ft windmill that I desperately wanted to bring home - but in the end sanity won out when Brad reminded me by phone (yes, i called him to ask if I could get it) that I did not have enough cash, man power or transportation to take it home. Have no fear. I will remedy all of these things before April - then I will go back to Round Top and buy myself a windmill.

Along the way we found this cute baby one the ground. We think it was a marketing trick to draw attention tot he items for sale closer to the ground. We almost fell for the trick when we stopped and kneeled - drawn in by the cuteness and concern for such a fragile creature amongst so much rusted metal. Then we saw the tag. $28. seriously. I told the girls we could haggle the seller down a little more and purchase the infant but they were not confident in my bargaining skills.

  

Yes, I am kidding you.

The baby is sweet Nash my friends newest addition. He did wonderfully while we dug for treasure.

In the end I came home with metal R, a makeup case - which was a steal, a HUGE pull down school map that will soon be mounted on the schoolroom wall....and a few other little things. Success. 

Acorn Match Game

Kate and I have been gathering up our large acorns from our Red Oak tree. I loving these big acorns. I have always seen acorn around here in Texas but they were longish and small. Growing up I just figured 'real acorns' must come from northern states where they get snow and pine cones. 

I am just thrilled that our new how has these big acorns - it's like fall magic for me.

Kate decided to make a match game out of the acorn hats. She painted pairs in the same color and let them dry. We also have been using them to practice our counting by twos. 

yay for fall.

Here is a link to another version of Acorn Match game:

 

Source: homemadeserenity.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

"On The Dock"

   While on our trips or adventures I try to give myself some little challenges - small photo essay assignments. This one is from Florida - I set out to interestingly photograph small parts of the dock and the fishing that went on.
 

and they grow-up so fast.

savoring the little girl she is today.

the beach.

 

The Nephew

nephews are just awesome. thats all I have to say today.

World Classroom: Sea World

Sea World offers an Annual Homeschool Day where homeschool families can enjoy the animal exhibits and educational programs during the off season. Thats a long sentence to clarify that the roller coasters & dip-n-dot stands were closed when we visited the park on Thursday. 

The minute I heard about the Sea World Homeschool day I was sold on the idea of a day trip to pet dolphins. At the last minute Brad was unable to come with us so we asked Aunt Rach if Hunter would like to ditch preschool for a day and join us. His answer : I love Kate.

It was a busy day. We had only a few hours to see all the open exhibits before lunch. At lunch time the exhibits closed and the afternoon was set aside for the educational "shows". We walked a ton! I am so proud of these kids with their short legs.

We wanted more dolphin time and ran all the way back to the front of the park to see them instead of going to the flamingos at the last minute. we were able to spend 10 minutes of good time with the dolphins with out the pushy crowds.

Swinging by the souvenir shop for an Orca shaped ice cream bar...kind of like DQ dilly bar....we headed back to the far side of the park for lunch and the shows. 

By this time we are hot and sweaty and aunt Carrie has little to no photos proving we were at Sea World. Let me repeat: we are hot and sweaty....and cranky. When I asked for a quick photo the kids were not inclined to oblige. So I said, "Can you go over there and look cranky?" this is what I got....

Stinking cute. 

The day was a success.

Kate and Hunter both loved the shows and were just amazed by the beluga whale. One of my favorite parts of the day happened at the beginning of the Beluga Whale show. The Announcer came out and asked "who here is home-schooled?" and everyone raises their hand...

The look on Kate's face as she looked around was priceless. Her eyes were wide and she exclaimed about how many kids were home-schooled like her. It was like I was watching her brain make the connections right in front of my eyes. 

At the same moment I was very aware of my nephew who is in preschool and not raising his hand. He looked at Kate and then me - right at that moment the announcer asked, "How many of you are here with your family?" It was perfect timing. I said, " Thats you Hunter! Your here with me and I am your family"  He giggled brightly and jumped up and down waving his hand in the air. 

The announce then told the kids to thank their families for bringing them to Sea World and making the choice to homeschool - He also said, "Isn't it awesome that you have this special opportunity!?! While all the other kids are in a school classroom today, you are out in the world. The world is your classroom to learn in and today Sea World is your classroom."

Kate really keyed in on this and repeated it in her stories about her favorite part of the day. It was such a sweet moment for me to see her so excited to be home-schooled and Hunter to be so giggly about how we were family.

Kate has decided that she still wants to be a veterinarian - and ocean veterinarian.

Enjoy the photos from the day.

hunter waited  a long time for people to move so he could see these poisonous frogs. kate and hunter found a little nook that no body else found - here they watched the new seal pups play + fight.

This is Kate incredibly excited for the Seal who is learning to do tricks. The Seal missed the first two signals but got it on the third and Kate started clapping wildly for her.

Oliver the baby beluga is only 4 years old - just like Hunter.

were letting the skeletons out of the closet.

 

"Mom, I want to learn about how food turns to poop."  

This what Kate declared when I introduced our new theme last week. There was no way to "weave" poop studies into the Community study I had planned.  After many more through questions it was obvious that Kate was VERY interested in what was going on in her body and could care less about the postman's role in our community. 

I took a moment and then declared our new study unit to be the Human Body... and off we went to the library. 

It's been really interesting and fun to see how our bodies work. I am amazed at the intricacies I often forget - Kate is simply astonished by the littlest things, things I take for granted and forget that she doesn't know.

On this day we made a skeleton with moving parts to go on our "felt Kate." Since this day we have added the heart, lungs, liver, and small+large intestines.  

The funniest thing we have done yet is watch a small portion of a video in the human body from National Geographic. The graphics are awesome. So awesome in fact ... Kate gagged when we got to the digestive portion. It seems they have cameras that can go all the way into the intestines and view the food as it comes down and is digested. Kate acted like it was a scary movie by hiding behind the couch pillow and peeking around the edges. She did not want to turn it off but it made her lose her appetite for sure. 

On a positive note - there has been a dramatic drop in the poop talk/jokes around the house.