Reality Check

Conversations with two different friends this week led me to believe that my recent posts have given the impression that I have everything running smoothly at our house and that our days are filled with nothing but cozy reading sessions, happy homeschooling endeavors, and yummy meals and treats.  Like one of my favorite bloggers, Melissa [...]

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Recent Reads

M and I are reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder now.  In the last few weeks, we finished On the Banks of Plum Creek and talked through By the Shores of Silver Lake which we read several months ago.  In between the two Little House books, we read Bunnicula, which I remembered loving [...]

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What We’re Reading This Week, July 9 Edition

We finished up Little House in the Big Woods and started Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager which we’d checked out from the library.  I wasn’t sure if M would like it as much as Half Magic and Magic by the Lake since a lot of the plot refers to Ivanhoe, a story she’s not familiar [...]

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What We’re Reading This Week: July 2 Edition

M and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods.  We’ve been reading bits and pieces of the Little House series for several years.  The boxed set is in M’s room and she loves to look through them.  We usually read series in order, but M insisted on reading By The Shores of Silver [...]

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Non-Fiction Monday: First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life

We periodically go through dinosaur/pre-historic times kicks here.  I think M has checked out every book on dinosaurs and other prehistoric life at our library branch at some point.  One of the first books on the topic that interested her was Usborne’s First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life.  I ordered a four pack of [...]

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Violet Cupcakes

This year, to celebrate the first day of spring, we made violet cupcakes. Violets are my favorite flower and one that M loves too.  We know spring is beginning when we see the yard filled with these little purple surprises.  Based on my research, violets are edible though you should be cautious if you are [...]

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Poetry Friday: Goblin Market

There are several poems and volumes of poetry I remember enjoying as a child: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries by Judith Viorst, and A Child’s Garden of Verse by Rober Louis Stevenson, especially “The Land of Counterpane”.  I loved (and still love) [...]

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Teaching Reading, Part 1

Recently, Karen Edmisten shared some of her experiences teaching her children to read.  M has recently taken off with reading in a big way, and I realized I’ve not shared very much about our journey which has been very different than I envisioned it would be.
I imagined that M would teach herself to read.  Maybe [...]

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Happy Valentine’s Day

Myspace Graphics

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Great Crafty Crow Give-aways

There are two great give-aways this week at Crafty Crow. Check out this post to win a $50 gift certificate from Bake it Pretty. Their adorable toppers and other decorations have my mind spinning with ideas for fun cupcakes. You can also win a one-year subscription to an adorable family activity book called [...]

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