We've had our two weeks off of school, but the kids have been learning just as much as ever. We've also had a lot of changes at home to deal with and almost took one more week off for sanity. It turns out that school = sanity so we stuck with our schedule. First, we were excited to finally get a picnic table for the back deck. I love eating outside and knew Lowe's was about to put away their outdoor furniture so we got this just in time. Hannah picked the color and helped me paint it. It's very comfortable out there now!
Given more free time in the mornings, the girls were happy to make a paper doll mess.
I finally got around to officially introducing the primary colors, which they turned out to know already. They had fun mixing and still showed excitement when a color changed. You can see Colin is an all or nothing kind of guy.
Hannah went to her very first concert. I had always wanted to take our kids when they turned 5 as a sort of rite of passage since music will always play a huge role in our family. Hannah was completely uninterested at age 5. Now she's 6 1/2 and one day got very excited about the prospect. I immediately looked up what was happening at UNT and we headed to a Symphonic Band concert. She got to see the group her dad used to play with and experience the hall in which we spent a good chunk of life. I played in this hall with the Wind Symphony for 4 years, Symphony Orchestra for 2, Chamber Orchestra for 2, Graduate Brass and Wind Quintet for 1 year each, 11 recording projects, graduations, chamber concerts, side gigs, and even auditions. Dax played in several groups as well as serving as the orchestra librarian and a doctoral conducting student. It's a big deal for me to have spent so much time here and then to get to bring my daughter! I was a little concerned she would tire of all the longer, more obscure music, but she followed all concert etiquette and loved watching the players and conductor close up. I like to sit to the side and above the group. When I asked if she wanted to leave early, she shook her head no. When I asked her to name her favorite part, she said "everything." Success!!
Our retired orchestra conductor. Couldn't pass up that photo op- haha
No school and a different schedule meant more shopping with all 3 kids. Imagine 3 of your friends heading to Walmart with you and each one holding a full conversation with you, not realizing anyone else is talking. Also, your friends squeal loudly and cheer at anything exciting they see: oversized popcorn bags, their favorite cookies, the color purple.
So we have 2 rules in stores that make things slightly easier. They are only allowed to show interesting things to each other, not to me. And if they ask for something they are certain not to get it. Sounds harsh, but it is the only way to make it through the store!
Church co-op has been going strong. One week they learned about monasteries and castles. The next week I taught about the planets and Saint Dionysius. The kids broke into groups and designed their own planets. Hannah's group came up with "Rainbow Planet" full of storms and snow and made of gas. It's 5 miles to the nearest sun and 1 year is 200 days. : ) One set of kids was motivated to go home and create whole solar systems, which I thought was really neat. This past week, they learned a bit of Russian. It's actually really fun to be surprised by each teacher's chosen subject matter each week. I'm still working with Hannah on participating more outwardly. She knows a lot of the information but is reluctant to shout out answers and shy about raising her hand. When she is put on the spot, it takes her a minute to decide on a response and there's not always time for that with a bunch of other kids eager to give the answer. This past week she was shown a world map and asked where we lived. I was confused when she wasn't able to point to the U.S. since she absolutely knows about our country. When I asked her about it, she said she had been looking for Texas, which of course wasn't outlined on a world map! I'm sure she'll get the hang of it, but as a parent (and one who has been through shyness as a child) it can be painful to see your child struggle and not be able to express themselves as easily as they do at home- where she is very verbal and outgoing.
In the meantime, Chloe is thriving in preschool. She's very in her element amongst the other girls in her class as they skip around the playground and tell each other good bye like little adults. Hannah and Colin have a gotten some good playtime at parks.
Lone Star Wind Orchestra had a great concert last weekend called "Deep in the Heart." We played several great pieces and were lucky enough to have one of our founders, Chris Tucker, write a piece for our group. We also played works by two other composers who were present. In the picture above, I wasn't assigned the piece they're rehearsing and got the rare opportunity to hear the group in a sound check from the audience. I was thrilled with how beautiful it was.
This week we tackled Fall. We read several books about animal habits and habitats and how plant life changes during this season. We tried learning a bit about North and South and the Equator, but I got a few blank looks. I think Hannah got the concept. Mostly we started a Nature Journal. They completed a leaf rubbing and made a list comparing a dead leaf verses a live one. We bought a pumpkin and learned how to measure an object in several different ways.
Hannah helped me clean out the pumpkin- the others still wouldn't touch it! But they were really excited to carve a face and light it up.
They added some interesting decorations. It looks like Jack stuck his face in a pink birthday cake.
The kids have had lots of time with friends. Today, we went on a fall nature walk.
They discovered a frog in a hole.
Here's Hannah's journal entry : )
We discovered all sorts of things like a ravine, lots of felled trees, this grasshopper leg, and poor Chloe stepped in a colony of red ants again. It always seems to happen to her!
During all of this, we are staying with Nana down the street and most of our house looks like this! We are excited that some changes are happening and can't wait for the "after" rather than the "before." We have many hours of painting under our belts and a few more ahead finishing up trim.
Next week we head into the world of airplanes with a Five in a Row book, The Glorious Flight.
