Beat-Box Girls and Some Other New Skills

We have finally gotten back into the swing of regular life after our whirlwind November. This week, we stayed home quite a bit. We are taking a break from all activities except gymnastics, so our mornings have been calmer and easier to fit projects into.

Magnatiles continue to be a favorite activity. Sophie has been extra creative with them, branching out into some really interesting designs.

The girls watch a lot of BrainPop during the week. They pick out all of their topics, of which there are hundreds, so I am often surprised at their new knowledge during the day.

Sophie and I were walking around the dollar store the other day, picking up items for her upcoming birthday party, and I heard what sounded like beat-boxing happening behind me.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"BrainPop."

Of course.

When Delaney returned from gymnastics, I asked them to give Cullen and I a demonstration.



I love BrainPop.

Sophie met a friend at the gym a few weeks ago while we were waiting for Delaney. He is about 7 or 8, and they hang out and play games on the iPad together...checkers, Temple Run, etc. He wanted to play chess this week, and she declined, saying she didn't know how. That night, however, she asked Cullen to play with her. She set up the board by herself, and made it through about half of the game before her attention span gave out. She asked to play each night this week, and now she is looking forward to a match with her new buddy.

We pulled out the paint after a long crafting vacation. I had a certain picture in mind for my Christmas decorations, and tried to commission Delaney to paint it. She wasn't interested, but Sophie was.

I asked for a snowman on a blue background, with certain specifications for his look. I don't know if I have ever told Sophie what to do while painting, and I was a little bossy about what I wanted this time. She was very patient with me, and did everything I asked.

It turned out perfectly! I made the outline of the circles for this guy, but she did the rest. I am so happy with the result.

Isn't my bathroom cute?

Delaney painted a cool view of Santa.

Once Sophie was finished with my picture, I set her free to paint whatever she wanted. She was quite happy with that.

We definitely need to get the paints out more often. The girls are so creative and have a lot of fun, and I need to increase my mess-tolerance back to its previous state.

And finally, my favorite picture from the week...Delaney's new favorite place to read. :D

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln

Delaney has a great interest in all things Civil War era, and especially Abraham Lincoln. She will tell you that he is her favorite president for many reasons...abolishing slavery, being an honest person, etc., but most of all because he loved to read like she does and learned most of the things he knew from reading on his own, which is her favorite way to learn as well.

*Funny side note: One time, we were at the library, and Delaney was reading a Magic Tree House book about Abraham Lincoln. She struck up a conversation with the woman beside her, who asked her about the book. Delaney told the woman how much she likes Abraham Lincoln, and that he was her favorite president. The woman said, "Yes, he was our first president, right?" 

Delaney looked at her, surprised, and said (very politely, thank goodness), "No, that was George Washington." The woman stammered for a moment, and then just got up and walked away. 

When I told her about Presidents' Day, and reminded her of Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12, she decided it was time for a celebration.

We read books about Lincoln, talked about Lincoln, and researched his favorite foods. History tells us that he did not like fancy and rich foods, but preferred eggs, which were often difficult to come by, and bacon. He enjoyed honey quite a bit, and many times just nibbled on fruit during the day, apples being his favorite.

Delaney made us an Abraham Lincoln Lunch, and has made the same lunch for us every day this week. She takes her history seriously. :)

 

She made an Abraham Lincoln house out of legos. 

 

 

 

 

Delaney also found a new Lincoln biography at Bookman's, and bought it to celebrate his day.

If you are looking for some good resources, these are some of Delaney's favorite books about Mr. Lincoln, all of which we were able to find at the local library:

Abraham Lincoln, Mary Pope Osborne
Civil War on Sunday, Mary Pope Osborne
Abe Lincoln at Last!, Mary Pope Osborne
Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President, Kathleen Krull
Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln, Judith St. George
The Abraham Lincoln You Never Knew, James Lincoln Collier

Happy birthday, Mr. Lincoln!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The girls renewed their love for art during this Valentine season. It's been there, lurking, but there has been much more pretend playing than sitting with markers and scissors during the last few months.

I found some very cute Valentine animals at this website, and we made several.

Delaney preferred to follow the directions herself, and made an adorable dog.

 

 

Sophie did all of her own cutting, and surprised me with her skills.

 

 

Once Sophie made her first animal, a cat, she was addicted.

She also made a bee, a fish, a ladybug and a lovebug.

 

 

 

A homeschooling friend organized a Valentine's Party this year, and we made plans to go.

Delaney and Sophie had fun signing their first Valentines.

Delaney illustrated most of hers.

Sophie got tired of writing her name after about five cards. She decided to draw cute little guys on each card instead, and added a heart sticker.

The party was fun. Lots of families attended and the girls had a good time.

Delaney enjoyed watching the older kids play checkers. She told me later that the oldest boy had tried to shoo all of the little girls away so they wouldn't wreck the game, bribing them with cookies and candy. She said she didn't want to leave the game, and told him, "I am five years old! I am not a little girl like them, and I WON'T wreck your game." He relented, and she behaved herself as she had promised.

Haha...I am glad she is not afraid to stick up for herself. ☺

After Delaney and Sophie finished exchanging Valentines, they rummaged through their bags, finding all sorts of goodies and cute cards.

 

We hope your Valentine's Day was filled with love and sugary goodness too. ♥

Inspired

There have been bounds of creativity running around here lately.

Delaney has been filling her days with art. She gets even more creative and full of ideas when I mention that we should probably work on some math...haha.

I had some art picked out for the girls to do for Thanksgiving, but instead they created their own turkeys. Delaney made hers independently, and Sophie just needed a little help drawing her feathers before she cut them, and a little bit of gluing assistance.

Delaney drew the Mayflower.

Over the weekend, Delaney wrote several "word" books, to "teach Sophie how to read". They start out easy and then increase in difficulty.

I especially like that she included "barf" and "puke" on her "words to know" list, as well as the girls' favorite word to yell, "gaggle". Who doesn't laugh hysterically when yelling that silly word?

She also made some visual math problems, several crowns and some rings...This equation has something to do with the time at which Delaney is hungry.

A game, in which we have to jump over lollipops and only land on the safe spike...

And a self-portrait...

I found the "What Shall I Draw" book, and Delaney spent the morning drawing a princess and a sea monster, and writing a little story to go with it.

"Once upon a time, there was  sea monster who said the next one to touch him would be his dinner. No one ever touched him ever though."

We go to the library most Monday mornings, and I encourage Delaney to chat with the librarians in the kids' section and practice her "speaking with grown ups" skills. She brought her picture to the library to read to them, and they hung it on the wall. She was so proud. I am a bit annoyed at my self for forgetting to take a picture...it was a good drawing and a cute story!

Sophie watched Delaney drawing all of her fun pictures with the drawing book, and wanted to try to draw her own creation. With just a little help, she made this cute little tiger.

Sophie also made an owl with me. She liked him so much that she asked me to hang him up in her room.

Delaney has been experimenting with fashion design. She made Sophie this dress out of some flannel and yarn...

And a belt out of craft foam for me.

Next, I will get out the sewing kit and teach her how to stitch a little bit. She will probably surpass my sewing abilities pretty quickly, since I know how to sew on a button and that's about it. :)

I taught her how to play checkers a few weeks ago, and Cullen is now teaching her to play chess. Sophie likes to help Cullen, and she knows the names of all of the chess pieces now. Delaney is learning to play Battleship with me, and is picking it up pretty quickly.

Now we have to get planning and working on all of our December crafts and goodies. I love the holiday months!

Heart Art

The girls and I had so much fun making our winter snowflakes in December, that I decided to use the same technique and make some Valentine art with them.

First, I used masking tape to make a heart on some 8x10 canvas.

The girls picked out some colors. Delaney picked pink, white and red, and Sophie picked purple, white and blue. Delaney used a sponge and a foam brush, and Sophie chose a sponge.

 

I love their intense little faces...

 

My favorite paints are the Crayola washable paints. They dry quickly, wash off easily with warm water, and they rarely ever stain clothes.

Once the paintings dried, I removed the masking tape, and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY!

I think I am going to have them make one more together using yellow, green and white, and hang all three up in their room! :)