Inspired by this post at Life in Grace about the contents of Edie’s fridge I went at once to capture the contents of our fridge as it was in the moment – no altering, no throwing out of the nasty spinach in the crisper drawer or waiting until after a big shopping trip.
This is a fairly accurate portrayal of our fridge – though we don’t normally have OJ in it (found them for a steal!) and we usually have a bit more produce and eggs in there (we have been through four and a half dozen eggs since Monday!) It tends to lean more towards the empty side then the stuffed side, though we do go through seasons where the opposite is true. I much prefer a sparser fridge. How about you?
In Edie’s post she highlighted this entertaining series of pictures of other people’s fridges – I enjoyed and thought you may too! Check them out here.
Paddle to the Sea Chapter 11-14 Activities
Chapter 11 – Paddle Finds one end of Lake Superior
- Read The Age of Steam {can’t find a copy of it online} and talked about freights, containers and moving commodities around the country.
Chapter 12 – A Fish Story- Talked about fishing and various fish. They had been given the opportunity to spend a few minutes fishing a couple of days prior, which tied in perfectly with this chapter!
Chapter 13 – Adrift Again
- Talk about season changes and what happens in each season.
- Cut out leaves I had drawn on fall-leaf colored paper {as seen above… and as you can see from their cutting-on-the-black-line skills -or lack thereof- there is a reason why we do cutting activities each week!}
- Create the “Happy Fall” card for someone using the fall leaves and a fall themed picture.
- Using the same colored paper as the fall leaves I cut rectangles and attached them to matching pipe cleaners and then sent them out in the backyard to look for items that matched those colors.
Chapter 14 – The Shipwreck
- Read Keep the Lights Burning Abbie and talk about what lighthouses do
I am using Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling with my 3 and 4 year old sons for our “school” this year. Shared above are the activities we have done this week relating to each chapter. Related books and activities are geared towards the young ages of my own children but are easily adaptable for older children.
Using a large piece of poster board I created a rough map as seen on the last page of the book. This map is referenced daily to track Paddle’s adventures.
We bought our trampoline last summer at a yard sale and it has been used almost daily since then! The boys have thoroughly enjoyed it {Paul being included in “the boys”!}
It has been neat to see their confidence and abilities increase over the past year and the trampoline has been a fabulous addition to our backyard and well worth the money paid.
We have begun thinking about Christmas gifts for the boys for this year – we try to be simple and intentional with their gifts. They don’t need anything and we don’t want to add to the collection of stuff, in fact, we work quite hard to minimize what they own and a big pile of Christmas gifts definitely contradicts that!
Friends of ours have a zipline set up across their backyard and earlier this summer we spent an afternoon at their place and the boys loved soaring across the backyard.
I think it’s a great contraption to teach confidence, balance and build upper body strength.
It got me thinking about buying a zipline and setting it up {quite a bit lower to the ground than our friends!!} as a Christmas gift for our boys this year. I don’t know much about them – has anyone purchased one or had much experience with one?
From friends phone:
My heart definitely raced as I watched my babies soaring above the ground across the yard – it wasn’t easy to let them do it, but they were so good at it, so proud of themselves and closely watched by the two dads present!
My mom flies out later today for a 6 week visit and will be seeing these precious faces again. This will be my mom’s first trip over their since grandma {her mom} died. She will be staying with grandpa and I am sure it will be a bittersweet time.
My boys know she is going, and can’t quite understand why they aren’t going to be meeting grandma {my mom} over there, as we did last year. They keep talking about going to the stream {which is odd, as I have no photographs from that trip and so they clearly remember it in detail from memory!}, they refer to the squirrels in our yard as chickens “just like the ones in Nigeria”, they have started talking more about their friends – Joy, Glory and Queen are the three in the photograph above. Osu was another favorite friend they often talk about.
They are very much looking forward to hearing stories from their grandma on her adventures and we will be praying for a safe and uneventful journey as it unfolds over the next couple of days.
And somehow we will all get over our jealousy of her getting to go without us!
Thankful for men that step up us fathers and leaders in their homes, for friendships, last minute picnics and cloudy days that mean a break from hot weather.
A page from Wesley’s three year old Photobook that I am still in the middle of designing… and yes, he did turn three two months ago. This is the first time I have been behind on their Photobooks and it is driving me insane. I thought if I shared about it then I might be inspired to complete it faster!
Starting with this book I am doing their books a little bit differently – I am designing each page as an 8×8 picture in Photoshop and then uploading as a full page to Shutterfly. It is a bit more work {hence the two month delay?!?!} but gives me a lot more freedom with design.
I have shared a bit about the birthday Photobooks here in the past. The boys never tire of looking at these books and have gotten hours of enjoyment out of each of these books.
I am using Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling with my 3 and 4 year old sons for our “school” this year. Shared below are the activities we have done this week relating to each chapter. Related books and activities are geared towards the young ages of my own children but are easily adaptable for older children.
Using a large piece of poster board I created a rough map as seen on the last page of the book. This map is referenced daily to track Paddle’s adventures.
Paddle to the Sea Lesson Plan Chapter 6-10 Activities
Chapter 6 – Paddle Meets a Sawmill
- Find sticks in backyard and then watch them be cut in daddy’s saw *save for next chapters activity.
- Google information on “saw mill”
Chapter 7 – Paddle Meets a Friend
- Paint wooden sticks that were cut with saw, pretend they are canoes and take to a local river to float {haven’t made it to the river yet to do this!}
- Read A Tree is Nice
Chapter 8 - The Largest Lake in the World
- Talk about the Great Lakes, look at the shape of Lake Superior {looks like a wolf head}
- Give them blue paper and scissors and have them make up their own lake, imagining whatever shape they’d like and naming it.
Chapter 9 – Paddle Crosses Two Borders
-Talk about borders between countries and passports and Customs {they have experience with this from our Nigeria trip and our trips to Canada.}
- Talk about flags and national symbols
- Give them each two pieces of paper and give oral instructions for them to draw both the Canadian and American flag. {An experiment in following instructions and giving a more intimate appreciation of the flags}
Chapter 10 – Life in a Northern Marsh
-Read All Things Bright and Beautiful
- Read The Tall Grass Zoo
- Pick a creature mentioned in this chapter and draw it
Week in Review: The boys have a growing excitement over the book and Paddle’s adventures. Given their enthusiasm I have added additional reading time to our morning school and this week we read, and completed, The Sign of the Beaver.
The Little Lame Prince will be next weeks morning chapter book read.
I had the privilege of doing a triple senior photoshoot for three beautiful friends of mine on Sunday evening. I love these girls so much and am so proud of them – they are loving, thoughtful, passionate, energetic and beautiful.
The couple hours together, followed by a squishy booth and ice cold {diet} Cokes, was a treasured time with them before they head off in their own directions.
“Be completely humble and gentle;
Be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace.”
-Ephesians 4:2,3
“Let each of you look out not only for his own interest
But also for the interest of others.”
-Philippians 2:4
“And you are complete in Him, who is head of all principality and power.”
-Colossians 2:6
Meal times have taken on a bit of class and elegance over the past month or so – {most of} our meals are eaten off of delicate china plates and accompanied by sparkling crystal goblets.
I have been buying beautiful china plates as I find them at the Thrift store and we have a small collection of mismatched china dinner plates.
The crystal goblets were given to us at a bridal shower and up until last month have been used perhaps a dozen times in 6 years.
That has all changed now.
It started with me pulling out my china teacup collection and letting them have their daily cup of tea from beautiful china rather then from chunky mugs. The boys were enchanted with the tea cups and told me it made them feel special. Repeatedly.
They love being trusted with something beautiful – something they know I dearly love {I have collected tea cups from my grandmothers and other older women I love}. There really is something about using a pretty teacup that transforms a cup of tea – and we have found the same to be true of pretty dishes and goblets for meals.
There is something special about eating our meals off of fine china – a special-ness that has not worn off over the past month and has most definitely enhanced our family meal times.
And those little ruffians of mine? They are learning the art of handling delicate dishes, a life skill I’d like them to master. We have broken one special tea cup in the past month – and the world did not end, which had been my reason for saving all the special dishes for special occasions, lest they break.
{All of my china dinner plates have been purchased for $1 – $1.50 at our local Salvation Army. I have seen China goblets there and tea cups and saucers – but I have rarely seen matching tea cups and saucers. It would be cute to have a mismatched assortment of tea cups and saucers and if my husband wouldn’t shoot me if we needed more tea cups I’d be all over buying mismatched sets!}
{The top picture is one of our new favorite foods – chick peas, either canned or dried ones cooked, placed in a pan with some coconut oil and seasonings and then placed under the broiler until crunchy. We eat a ridiculous amount of these tasty treats and they are delicious on salads!}
I am using Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling with my 3 and 4 year old sons for our “school” this year. Shared below are the activities we have done this week relating to each chapter in Paddle to the Sea. Related books and activities are geared towards the young ages of my own children but are easily adaptable for older children.
Using a large piece of poster board I created a rough map as seen on the last page of the book. This map is referenced daily to track Paddle’s adventures.
Paddle to the Sea Lesson Plan – Chapter 1- 5 Activities
Chapter 1: How Paddle to the Sea Came to Be
-Introduce the children to the large map of Paddle’s adventure. Point out the border line between the USA and Canada. Point out known landmarks (places they have been and where relatives live.)
-Read Usborne Starting Point Science -section about snow.
-Carve our own canoes out of bars of Ivory soap. (used butter knives – the boys were perfectly capable of such an activity.)
-Float our soap canoes in our {small inflatable} pool. Then grabbed other random household objects to see what would and would not float.
Chapter 2: Long River Reaching to the Sea
-Review Usborne Science lesson on snow.
-Read It’s Spring book.
-Make paper canoes to follow along on our map. Let the boys name the canoes. {Wesley named his “Sink Me.”}
-Set up “bowls on a gentle slope” to give a visual of the Great Lakes as per the books description.
Chapter 3: Paddle Starts on his Journey
- Read How to be a Nature Detective
- Watch ice cubes melt in the sun.
- Go on a nature hunt in the backyard
- Move little paper canoes along on map
Chapter 4: Brook and Beaver Pond
- Read Who Lives Here
- Draw some of the animals described in this chapter
Chapter 5: Breakup of the River
-Stick a canoe under a log {use one from a plastic Indian set} to show how Paddle got stuck.
-Using the hose create a waterfall and send the log with the canoe stuck in it over the falls.
Week in Review: Carving the soap boats was a huge hit with the boys. They begged every single day to do more carving!
Click for all Paddle to the Sea lesson plans
