(And All My) Work Be Praise

See the 2012 version here. This afternoon, while the littles napped, Levi and I made our Christmas paper chain. Once again, he did pretty much all the work! This year for Advent, we're working through a preschool curriculum called Truth in the Tinsel . It was part of a bundle of e-books I bought a while back, and is all the rage among several of the blogs I read semi-regularly. There is an ornament craft for every day of the week, with accompanying Scripture passage and extra activities. I do NOT expect, in any way, to actually complete an ornament every day, even though they are at the super-simple preschool level! But we're going to do what we can. Also, I'm not putting up a tree this year (see yesterday's post about the destructive 18-month-old in my house, and then remember I'll be nursing a newborn sometime in the next 4 weeks), so I'm not quite sure where I'm going to display the ornaments. To help keep us on track, I had Levi write the Scriptur...

Last year, I made a big tree out of paper bags and taped it to the wall.  Every night after dinner we wrote things we're thankful for on leaves and added them to the tree. This year, I have an almost-eighteen-month-old who is the very description of destruction. Puzzles we've had for two years are missing pieces for the first time. Board books we've had since before my oldest was even born now have broken spines. As of last week, the computer gets locked every time I stand up, in preparation for the beating the keyboard is likely to take the second I look away. (We're in full-on training mode here.) As such, the idea of taping anything to the wall and having it last more than an hour was totally preposterous. I weighed some options and finally decided still to make leaves, but to tape them to the bulkhead above my kitchen cupboards. It made for a fun fall decoration! Back at the beginning of November, I covered the dining room table in paper and gave the boys...

Scripture: Jonah Books: Owl Babies (by Martin Waddell), Goodnight, Owl  (by Pat Hutchins), White Owl, Barn Owl  (by Nicola Davies). We loved all of these! Craft: O owl Well, we eased back into preschool this week, but we still didn't do much. Real life being what it is, we talk about obedience at least a dozen times a day (that would be once for every hour they're awake . . . better make that two dozen times a day). It almost seemed silly to talk about Jonah's disobedience when we have so much of our own here to address! But being thrown into the sea is great lesson in consequences, and I didn't pass up the chance to point that out. ;) Owen is newly into coloring, as you can see from his delighted expression below. (Yes, that is delight, though it could be any number of emotions.) Levi has suddenly demonstrated considerably more mastery over his scissors, and was quite proud to cut out his O alone.  The boy is solidly left-handed . . . except with sc...

James the Train For a whopping seven months, as of yesterday, I will not have a two-year-old in the house (But don't worry. Owen is still, and Silas is already, doing their best to fill that role.) While all of my boys love to drive trains, Owen is my most dedicated train-driver. So a few months ago, when my husband spotted a Thomas-brand take-and-play track set featuring the Owen train (yep, there is one!) for 75% off, it seemed like a no-brainer for Owen's birthday. My mom, ever one to jump on board (no pun intended) with a theme, brought engineer hats and bandanas for the boys to wear and train whistles to blow. Owen, being himself, refused to wear the hat or bandana that night. But he donned both excitedly the next day. Levi and Grandpa, reading Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown. Beautiful book. If you ask Owen what he likes to eat, he will tell you quite seriously that he only likes three foods: grilled cheese, peanut butter and jell...

You're probably wondering where my usual Friday-or-Saturday school week recap is. The answer is simple: we didn't do any preschool* last week. We're skipping most of this week, too. Why? Because I had other things to do. Because I'm tired. Because we hit a patch of life in which specific and immediate discipline for repeated infractions was more important than phonetics. Sticking letter magnets on the borrowed canning pot while I peeled apples. I've been thinking a lot about our little preschool, though, particularly with regard to this blog. I post about our activities for a few reasons: because I want to remember these days and blogging is easier than scrapbooking, because I enjoy searching for fun activities to do and want to share my resources, because it's an easy way for my husband and my parents to see what goes on in our daily lives. But it occurs to me, every time I hit "publish," that by making our weekly happenings public, there...

Bible story: Samuel and Eli Books: Leaf Jumpers   (by Carole Gerber) , Leaf Man (by Lois Ehlert), Leaf Trouble   (by Jonathan Emmett). We loved  Leaf Trouble and read it repeatedly. Fun story, vibrant illustrations! Crafts: leaf-covered L, leaf placemats Math: candy corn math   from Royal Baloo   (Yes, I realize this doesn't start with L. But since I opened a bag of candy corn for a Bible study, I thought we might as well use it.) I also have a leaf packet from 3dinosaurs.com , but we just plain spent more time playing than sitting at the table this week. I think it was a good decision! Since the weather was so beautiful, we started out the week with a long walk to observe and collect the changing leaves. We filled the stroller basket to overflowing! It amuses me greatly, the way they run up to me with the ugliest, most mottled, ripped leaves and proudly declare, "here's a pretty leaf for you, Mommy!" I'm sure there's a metaphor in there about find...

Bible story: Tower of Babel Books: None. I'm sure there are hundreds of cute pumpkin-themed picture books in the world. I'm also fairly sure that every single one of them is checked out of the library during the month of October. And, well, I needed a nap more than I needed a trip to the library on Sunday. It so happens that P oky Little P u pp y was the book of choice every night this week, so we still got a P-themed book, even if it wasn't about pumpkins! Crafts:   pumpkin paper plate masks ,  Pumpkin-scented playdough Science: pumpkin observations Food: pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins Blessing others: pumpkin muffins for Peter and Patrick  (two brother-friends at church) We started out Pp week with a local community's pumpkin festival. The boys got to play in seeds, make crafts, pick out a mini p umpkin, and ride a p ony . . . if they so choose. Both older boys sat on the horse, but Owen started screaming as soon as it shifted weight under him and wouldn...