Book of Days

 Last week was our last week. To give Hannah more reading and writing practice, I did something I remember doing with my next door neighbor in 7th grade. We would write messages to each other and send my younger sister to make deliveries back and forth from porch to porch. I sent Hannah to her room and found a willing messenger : )

 I asked her questions and she gave me answers. I love how she decided to spell trampoline. She often hears "tr" as "ch"

 In lieu of Five in a Row, we did one of the unit studies from the Garden of the Theotokos curriculum. The kids really loved it. It's called Book of Days. In the Orthodox Church each day represents something holy. Of course Sunday is about the Resurrection and we take communion, so they made a chalice with gold material and decorations. I was really proud Colin completed his book. As a 3 year old, his attention span is quite short, but he was at peace concentrating on his book. The pictures I'm posting are mostly Hannah's work.

 Monday is designated for angels and we talked about their origin and the various types. The kids love hearing they have a guardian angel and the prayers asking angels for their help.

 Tuesday is for St. John the Forerunner (otherwise known as John the Baptist). We actually had dove stickers! Hannah's Jesus and John have glasses- a little ahead of their time.

Here are the girls singing their very favorite song from the cd we listen to every morning according to the day of the week. Chloe loves it so much, she can't help but dance : )

                                                 O Forerunner, O Baptizer
                                                 Holy Saint John, Pray for Us
                                                 You lived in the wilderness
                                                 You baptized the Master
                                                 Help us follow Him, too.
                                                 Help us follow Him, too.
                                                 Holy Saint John, Pray for Us.

 Wednesday and Friday are about the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus. The wonderful thing about Orthodoxy is its focus on the wonder and power of the cross. We cross ourselves, we wear the necklace, and we venerate the cross each Sunday. I remember loving this little crayon + eraser project in elementary school.

 Thursday we focus on the disciples. I found some they could cut out and surround Jesus.

 Saturday is for the departed. There is a story of St. Theodore. At a time with the king did not loved Christians, he contaminated the people's food. Since it was during Lent, the Christians were already not eating meat or dairy- and now they had no fruits or vegetables. St. Theodore prayed and was told in a dream to boil wheat, add spices and honey, and feed it to the the Christians. (this is the child's version) This food is called kolliva and served with a candle at Orthodox funerals in remembrance of God's deliverance. We made ours with rice and a ribbon for the candle. I let the kids pick out their ribbons and didn't realize until later that Hannah's said "Vacation Memories."  Leave it to her to pick out the one ribbon with words! Although I'm sure she didn't even notice : )

 I suddenly got on a TED talk kick and watched lots of interesting videos. Among them were some folks who talked about the creativity opportunities we perhaps forget to give children. I've also heard many people talk before about growing up taking apart radios, etc. to see how they work. I had an idea and rushed off to Goodwill. I bought a bunch of junk the kids are allowed to do whatever they want with. We call it the "Crazy Box." They've played with it twice now and it keeps them busy for hours! Chloe is usually chatting into the phone/answering machine while Hannah builds interesting contraptions with tape, wire, bungee cord, etc. Colin mostly bangs things around- and it's okay!

 For our off weeks, we've been having a good time relaxing and doing a few activities. We had a family movie night and the kids made pretzel and Fruit Loop snack necklaces. We've also been working hard on a special project for their room at Nana's house. I can't wait to share some pictures when it's done.

I've been sneaking in opportunities for Hannah to read. We make a daily list of things we'd like to do- some needs, some wants and it's Hannah's job to review the list and mark things off.

 Today we visited the Perot Museum. There are so many things to see, we bought a membership so we could come back and absorb it all over the next year rather than try to rush them through in one trip.

 At the sandbox, I realized that Colin's shoe is technically bigger than Chloe's now.

 The kids said this was their favorite part- never mind the space exhibit and the dinosaurs. Good ole sand is what they enjoyed the most. We still aren't interested in having it at home. Thankfully Nana's more tolerant.

See you next time!