New Favorite at the Playground

There's something new at the playground down the street, and my kids love to play on it more than anything else there.

It's not the swings.

It's not the slides.

It's not the monkey bars.

It's....


a pile of dirt.

The kids have even named it: Wichita Peak.

To Read Later...

I'm out of computer time this morning, but this is going to the top of my list for next time:

I Don't Want to Be a Yelling, Screaming, Crazy Mom

HT: In the Heart of My Home

From Our Garden

Lost

The scariest moment of my life occurred when Lucia was 2 1/2 years old and I was 7 months pregnant with Clara. Our family had just returned home from dinner with my in-laws. I was working in the kitchen and the other children were playing when I realized I hadn't seen Lucia in awhile. Knowing that when toddlers are quiet, they are usually making a mess, I went to look for her. When I didn't find Lucia on my first pass through the house, I started to panic, but decided to look again, more carefully this time. I wondered if she had gone out the front door, but the deadbolt was locked when I came to it, so I thought that she couldn't have gone that way. She wasn't on the main floor. She wasn't in the basement. She wasn't in the backyard. Now I was really scared. I thought someone had taken my baby. I was about to call 911 when I flew out the front door in a panic to check the front yard. As I scanned the sidewalks to the east and west of our house, I spotted Lucia, crossing a busy street just west of our home. Two cars were stopped, waiting for her to cross the street. I shouted her name, and ran to get her, but my legs were wobbly and I fell on the driveway right on my big pregnant belly. I got up right away and retrieved my toddler, who was laughing when I scooped her up. I was so happy that I found her, alive and well, that I didn't even think of spanking her for going into the street. I took her back home, and once the adrenaline wore off, I discovered that I had injured my back and scraped up my foot when I fell. I felt the baby kicking, so I thought that she was probably okay.

Lucia had escaped into the front yard because Matt had left the gate to the backyard unlocked when he took our dog out for a walk that evening. Because our yard is fenced in, I let the children go in and out freely. I hadn't noticed Lucia going into the backyard that evening. The next day, Matt installed a chain lock on the front door, out of the reach of little people, and my father-in-law installed a high lock on the backyard sliding door.

Sometime later, I was listening to a talk on EWTN and the speaker said that a woman must search for holiness like she "searches for a lost child." I knew exactly what she meant. When I was searching for my lost Lucia, there was nothing else on my mind but finding her.

Early this morning, I had a bad dream. I dreamt that I couldn't find one of my children. When I woke up, I still felt scared. I went to check on all of them and counted five little heads, peacefully dreaming. And all the doors are locked.

I just realized

that this is the last year Mary Beth can participate in the Children's Program at the Midwest Catholic Family Conference. Next year, she'll have to go to the Junior High Program. My goodness, is it really only a year until she'll be in junior high school??

My baby is growing up!

The Case of the Missing Flip-Flop

I spent all day on Monday looking for one of these flip-flops. I cleaned my entire house loooking for it, and guess where I finally found it?

On top of the compost heap outside.

Definitely the strangest place I've every found a missing shoe.

Book Orders--Lucia Edition

+new purchase
*already own

Lucia

Religion
*The Beginner's Bible
*Little Acts of Grace
*Living the 10 Commandments for Children
*Just Like Mary
*The Mass Book for Children

Language Arts
*Little Stories for Little Folks
*A Home Start in Reading (Part of the 3 R's Series by Ruth Beechick)
+The Writer's Jungle
+Letters and Numbers For Me
*Wood Pieces for Capital Letters
*Laminated Capital Letter Cards
*HWT Slate
Classic children's literature to be listened to during read-aloud time (I haven't picked these yet; we will either borrow books from the library or buy them if they'll take longer than about 6 weeks to read)
+Poetry selections from Favorite Poems Old and New
+The Big Book of Books and Activities

I am also considering the purchase of this Fairy Tale guide from Bravewriter. It is designed to use with ages 4-12 (so I could use it with Mary Beth, Anna, & Lucia) to study fairy tales and offers suggestions for creative writing projects based on fairy tales. All my girls really enjoy fairy tales, and it would be a fun project to work on together.

Math
*MCP Math K
*An Easy Start in Arithmetic

History
Lucia will have the opportunity to listen to living historical fiction which will coincide with Mary Beth's study of early American history

Science
+106 Days of Creation Studies
Nature Study
+Outdoor Secrets
+Hours in the Out-of-Doors

Music
*Wee Sing Bible Songs
*Adoremus Hymnal
*Jubilate Deo

Music Appreciation
Listen to classical music CD's from the library; focus on one composer at a time; listen to music from 4-6 composers over the course of the year


Art
+Draw Write Now Books (I bought book 1 for Lucia)
+Ed Emberley Fingerprint Drawing Book
*Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals


Art Appreciation--Picture Study
Look at art prints and art books from the library; focus on one artist at a time; look at art from 4-6 artists over the course of the year