The Number Five

Today we worked on some math just for fun. I was pleased that Savanna has been remembering the number five. Normally, when counting she would skip right to six. In the past two days she has been successfully counting to ten without missing five. Now I just hope she remembers it!
Last night after supper, Wayne was asking her some basic math questions using some Halloween candy-yes, we do still have leftovers, chocolate is closely monitored in this house as she tends to get hyper after what seems like a single M&M. Off topic, I tend to think that whoever said sugar doesn't make kids hyper is off their rocker. Maybe it's the caffeine in the chocolate? Anyway, back on topic, he was quizzing her and asking simple questions like, "If you had one candy and I gave you another, how many would you have?" Surprisingly, she seemed to catch right on. It never fails to amaze me what kids actually know. It's just so fascinating to see their little brains at work.
So today, I wrote down the numbers from one to ten and had her practise writing them underneath. This now takes her less than a minute and she's getting pretty good at it. She still seems to have trouble with writing the number two but I know it'll come.
We did some reading today too-the books she wanted about octopuses. Yes, I wasn't sure if it was octopuses or octopi either until I got the books. We learned that they can taste with their suckers and that some species of octopuses are poisonous. Tonight's reading selection-How to Potty Train Your Monster.
Tomorrow, we plan to bake some banana muffins and maybe we will do some more holiday decorating-the snowman in the living room looks like he needs some companionship.

Thankful

Today I am feeling coincidently, very thankful. I know it is not our thanksgiving but I think everyone could benefit from finding just one thing, each day, to be thankful for.
Right now, I am thankful for:
A mild sunny day, a chance to squeeze in a load of laundry before the cold weather forces us to borrow a dryer.
The opportunity to be outside and enjoy said weather.
Savanna being able to spend some time with her Grandfather and just enjoy being a kid.
The impromptu drum solo with three generations happily banging away on junk found behind the shop.
A child's imagination, that can take what we see as junk and turn it into music.
A slow cooker that gives me an opportunity to take time to chat with a neighbour.
Baking muffins with my daughter and the wonderful smell of carrot, pineapple and cinnamon wafting through the house.
Relaxing on the couch with my next crochet project.

Crocheting...Finally!

With aching fingers I am happy to report that I have finally gotten the hang of the single stitch crochet.
Much thanks to everyone who has tried to help me out and to a good friend who spent the better part if an afternoon patiently guiding me through it. I really needed to see it demonstrated and YouTube just wasn't working for me.
I knew I needed help when my first solo attempt came out in a circle! Quick to save face I said,"Here Savanna, I made you a bracelet."
Wayne was teasing me today that it took me half an hour to make a "Barbie scarf" (a piece about four inches long by an inch high). He told me at that rate I would have to charge about $40 for it. I reassured him that I was not planning to sell anything any time soon. After another hour and a half I showed him my "Barbie comforter". Progress may be slow but I'm just thrilled to be making something that actually looks like what it's supposed to. Maybe in a week I will actually have the scarf I planned to make for Savanna.

An Early Start to the Holidays

Yesterday, we had our first family Christmas. Yes, I think it gets earlier every year.
It seemed strange having it on Remembrance Day and I couldn't help but wonder what the ceremonies would have been like back at CFB Petawawa. Something to see I'm sure. I'll admit that sometimes I miss living on an army base, it was pretty interesting.
I feel like I spent much of my weekend cooking. Saturday it was prepping Loaded Baked Potato soup for the slowcooker and baking Zucchini loaf, and Sunday it was scalloped potatoes to feed forty people. I must have sliced about seven pounds of potatoes! They are well worth the effort though. Totally not good for you, with cream cheese, sour cream and more cheese but I do throw in some peas-hey, it's a vegetable!
This week I think we will bake some Rhubarb muffins and make some salt dough ornaments for the Christmas tree that we will get-eek-next month-already?

Extra Time

I'm going to add my name to the list of people who hate daylight savings time. I mean come on-its 6:30 and its pitch black out-it really makes for a long evening! On the other hand I have been going to bed at 10 and getting up hours earlier than I used to so maybe it's not all bad.
This morning I was up by 8:51, yes I always remember exact times, not early by early bird standards but very early by mine. Since I felt rested I decided to venture out of the bedroom and see what the day looked like. Again, its amazing how long a day can seem with just two extra hours or so.
To fill some of the time I decided to first, check the U.S. election results (I'm much relieved to see that Obama was re-elected because frankly, Mitt Romney scares the heck out of me.), and second, take Savanna to story time to kill some of that extra time.
I'm still not very good with story time, my husbands aunt is a great story teller but the other kids drive me nuts!
To drown out some of the commotion I concentrated on starting my crochet chain, sadly, the only stitch I know-I really need to figure out how to get the second row started. I guess worse comes to worse I will have a collection of lovely bookmarks.
After returning home lunch was served (leftover egg salad sandwich, surprisingly not soggy, and leftover salad) after which we got busy working on the alphabet. I notice that for some reason Savanna tends to make some letters upside down or backwards but I'm really not worried about it at this point. I didn't push her too hard, just wrote it out and let her try to copy. She seemed to get stuck on K, N and V so we took a little time to try and work it out and moved on when she got frustrated. After all, I want her to want to do it. She then drew a very nice mouse family and I know I'm biased but I think she does quite well.
As our "science project" we planted a paper star that has flower seeds in it. We put it in a nice sunny location and hopefully it will grow into flowers. (It is a little old but I thought it was worth a try.)
Being as we only have a compact wash machine (no room for a dryer here so we hang them out) and it was a sunny day I thought I should throw in a load of laundry. I was happy to see that there wasn't as many dirty clothes as I thought. I have to say that for me there is something therapeutic about having a few minutes of peace and quiet while hanging up the laundry.
While I was there I noticed how nice the white branches of the birch trees looked against the clear blue sky and couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Happy Day!

It was an exciting day for us here! Installing the whiteboard in Savanna's "school" corner turns out to be one of the best things we've done. She really enjoys practicing her writing on it and its much more environmentally friendly than using reams of paper, although we do have a giant roll of craft paper to go through. I think the paper will be great for anatomy lessons, have her lay down and trace her outline and we can label the body parts.
Today I asked her if she wanted to do some writing and she quickly agreed so I wrote her name on the board. She immediately said ,"Savanna." I'm constantly surprised by the words that she is starting to recognize. I asked her if she would like to write her own name and with very little encouragement she came up with what I deem to be a very reasonable copy for a four year old. I had her leave it up so Wayne could see it when he got home and he was pretty impressed.
So that was my excitement for the day. You may not think its exciting but to me it is a huge accomplishment.
She wants to learn her alphabet tomorrow...

Soup's On!

I was excited to get the new Milk Calendar in the mail last week. Yes, I'm such a housewife but I love it! I'm always in search of new recipes and as much as I like cooking, sometimes I do run out of ideas.
So far I have tried two of the recipes, a chicken stir fry with super easy soy and honey sauce, and tonight's offering, parsnip and carrot soup. It is a really good fall soup, a little labour intensive but worth the effort. My husband being a meat-with-every-meal guy, I think I will sauté a little bacon to add to the soup next time. What doesn't go with bacon?

More Books-Hurray!

Today we had the luck of being at the library at the same time their book sale was occurring. To book fans like Savanna and I it was truly exciting!
I was even more excited when I went to pay and the total came to $3-I actually asked her to repeat it, I was so surprised. I bet the total price for all 5 books new was almost $100!
I'm sorry if I seem like I'm ranting but for a bargain hunter like me it was like hitting the jackpot, plus we got more material for the homeschool corner.
Savanna really wanted to have a "school" of her own so I took an unused corner of our living room and did a little makeover. How do we have an unused corner in an 800 square foot house you ask? Well it's called IKEA living or as I like say, living simply and not collecting a things you don't need or use.
To start, I took an old whiteboard I had as a child and had Savanna paint the frame as the art project of the day. Since I inherited my Dad's aversion to putting holes in the wall I used 3M Velcro fasteners to put it up and then Mac tacked a dollar store number chart above it. They were all out of the alphabet so maybe next time.
The project I had the most fun with was her bookshelf. I love going out to the barn and seeing what I can make with whatever I find. What I found was a wooden apple crate, a scrap of weathered plywood and some old chair legs. Put them together and I think it turned out great.
So far Savanna has collected a children's atlas, encyclopedia, a book about the human body, an A-Z book of animals, one about pets, a whole Reader's Digest series of question and answer books and some free materials from the government on flags and symbols of Canada. If I can't answer her questions with those books there's always Google! On top of all this she has been given loads of workbooks and an entire K-8 set of mathematics and phonics materials. I think we will be well equipped!