Happy Birthday My Love

Before you were born, I lived with the silent fear and guilt that I would not be able to love you as much as your sister. I couldn't see how, since I loved her with my entire heart and soul. Then you were born. "And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day". I love you so completely, every moment of every day. I love everything that you are and everything that you will be. Happy first Birthday Merle my Squirrel.


Love, Mom

Girls Rule! According to the Hidden Pillowcase

A conversation I had with Roo after my husband was changing the pillow cases on the futon upstairs and discovered graffiti;)

Me: Roo, why did you write Girls Rule! on our pillow case with decorative swirls all around it?
Roo: I felt like drawing.
Me: And you thought we would be okay with you colouring on the pillow case?
Roo: I didn't think you would get mad.
Me: Then why did you hide it?
Roo: So you wouldn't see it.
Me: So you obviously knew while you were doing it that you shouldn't be, right?
Roo: *shrugs*
Me: Okay let me rephrase. When you were colouring on the pillow, were you worried I would come upstairs and see you while you were doing it?
Roo: Did I at least spell Girls right? Did you notice I used an explanation point?
Me: Yes

Is it just me, or did she miss the point entirely?

This is what we completed for the past couple of weeks since I missed a few back there.

Memory Work -  I decided I would also incorporate our Latin chants and the Being Words - être for French.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 10, 11 and 12 and we are really focusing on the silent e because she seems to always forget it when spelling. We may take next week to keep going over the silent e rules and words. 

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 113-124 using commas, helping verbs, contractions and adjectives.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 5-8 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerie Henry, My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes, and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Latin (Lively Latin) - We are progressing through it very slowly because I don't see any point in rushing this subject since full understanding is needed. We have just entered into what the first declension is.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - We are working on knowing and memorizing the Being Words, être, je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. I remember spending a lot of time on these in school too.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - We are almost done 1B and have been adding and subtracting numbers within 100. We have also completed several chapters in Life of Fred Elementary - Butterflies since we recently finished Apples.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter 5-8 A King named Skadagupta, Monks in Caves, Muhammad's Vision, Muhammad Flees to Medina, The Koran: Islam's Holy Book, Fight for Mecca, The City of Baghdad, Sinbad in the Valley of Snakes, Yang Chein Unites North and South, and The Tang Dynasty. For each of these there were accompanying colouring pages and map work. We also used the Usborne Encyclopedia of religions to read about Muslims.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - We covered many subjects for the past few weeks such as Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Volcanoes, Mountains, Rivers and Rivers of Ice, The Seashore, Seas and Oceans and Under the Sea, and the biomes desert, plains, rainforest and Arctic. We also built a paper mache volcano and exploded it.





Painting the finished product.





Not quite as colourful as we wanted even though we added plenty of food colouring. I suspect she may have added water or something when I wasn't looking. I have no idea why she taped pieces of foliage around the base either.

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and went to India, Israel and Thailand to finish our Asia tour. This week we began Europe and started with Russia (even though it is on both Asia and Europe). We read the Children Just Like Me book to look how each child in these countries live. So far Russia has been her favourite because the little girl goes to dance school. Regular school in the morning and dance lessons every afternoon, who wouldn't want that? 

Art (Meet the Masters) - Roo started her weekly Art class. It is two hours of mixed media fun in which she looks forward to every week. 

What did Merle do? Merle can walk around her play pen no problem and will sometimes stand unassisted for a second or two before she falls or grabs onto something. She also thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is the best show ever and will literally bitch at you if you shut it off or the video runs out. She stands and laughs and dances the entire time it is on. When it stops she points and yells. We recently ordered the Yo Gabba Gabba Party in a Box DVD set because she only had one video she watched repeatedly. If I hear the "I love Bugs" song one more time.........

Lions and Tigers and.......Inbred Cannibal Mountain Men

I'm not a big "let's be one with nature" person. I don't like camping, bugs or hot sunny days, so nature walks aren't really my forte either. But my husband and Roo wanted to go out for a family walk along the trails. I was supposed to compile a list of things so that the two of them could have a scavenger hunt while on our walk. It's a very common place for bike riders, dog walkers and families to go around the various trails. They are scenic and easy to walk along..........as long as you stick to the trails. I pushed the carriage with Merle while the two of them did their hunt. At the end of one trail was a park where the girls played for a bit and then we backtracked. Instead of going down the same way we came up, Tom decided that "it would be fun to go into the more wooded area because it went down by the water and we could cross a bridge and come around", his words not mine. He apparently used to bike these paths and was familiar with where they led or something like that. Always go with your gut. For one, the path wasn't paved. It was more of a human flattened out path, which was fine at first until it got more hilly, rocky and the woods got denser. Then as we walked further in you could no longer hear people talking and laughing. It got really quiet and I have seen too many horror films. Actually not seen, but been more in the room while Tom was watching them because they scare me so bad I can't sit and watch them. Because I am a firm believer that nothing good happens in the woods and I frequently say it, Tom said something along the lines of "your thinking of those inbred, cannibal, mountain men from that movie aren't you?" That would be the ones from the movie Wrong Turn, which is seared into my brain for life. I can't run fast to begin with and pushing a stroller in a heavy wooded area, there would be zero hope for me. I would be the first to go if that moment was a horror movie. So the path sucks, and is gradually getting suckier as we continue to forge through because "there is the water just up ahead and then we can cross the bridge to the other side. Nope. The dirt ground turned to mud and giant puddles, and the paths go smaller. Long story short, we had to turn around while I carried Merle all the way out and helped Roo through the mud, over puddles and up hills while Tom had to collapse and carry the big stroller because it was way easier than pushing it. And somewhere along the way I twisted my ankle and hurt my armpit. We got back to the car and then when to Dairy Queen. Mint, Oreo and Skor Bar is my new favourite Blizzard.

During the park play.

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work -  We added the definition of earthquake to our box.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 9 when to use c or k.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 110-112 linking verbs, seasons and we started a poem booklet.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 4 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Latin (Lively Latin) - We spent the week learning/memorizing our vocabulary words and our chants did exercise 1.2 and read a history section.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - 1 worksheet, and flashcard reviewing.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we did time this week with a review chapter.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter four The Beauty of Constantinople, Justinian the Just Emperor, The Empress Theodorra and The Church in the East. We did the corresponding map work and advanced map work for this chapter.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - Roo learned about Storms, flooding and earthquakes. We also watched some video clips on storms and tsunamis. 

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and went to Japan. We still use Sheppard Software daily to learn the European countries. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method and started her continent blobs this week.  Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. I didn't post a picture last week, so this is an example of how to map the continent blobs and 5 great circles.

Art (Meet the Masters) - We continued our study on Vincent Van Gogh. Her art class starts next week which is going to be fun for her as well. 

What did Merle do? She can make it around her play pen by holding the side and can now easily get from her belly to her butt. She also fell asleep in the most awkward position ever.

I Come From Ork

I was pretty excited when my husband went out to the store today (code for I am smoking) and came up carrying the mail because................today Merle's Halloween costume arrived. Which was pretty unexpected seeing I only ordered it Wednesday. I need to take up the sleeves and put a pin tuck in the wig/headpiece but overall it fits and she doesn't appear to like it:) Princess Leia!

Sorry for the crappy phone photo.

There comes a point in your life when you realize that your child is going to be way smarter than you. You hope for it, but you also secretly wish that you will always be just a little bit smarter. If only, because you are their parents and you need that so they don't know you are talking out your ass most of the time. Well yesterday I had my moment of acceptance. This a three way conversation between Roo, Merle and I (and yes Merle is only 9 months so just go with me on this).

Me: Merle did you poop?
Merle: screech, snort, clap.
Me: Should I be scared?
Roo: If I may interrupt? I have been working on my baby translation skills.
Me: Okay. Did she poop?
Roo: Merley did you poop?
Merle: dada, ma, click.
Roo: She said maybe. But don't worry because it is not diaper explosion.
Me: Good to know.
Roo: She also says that her conscience is still making her feel guilty about the incident on Tuesday, but she doesn't want to talk about it because she is embarrassed.
Me: Where did you come from?
Roo: Ork, but you call it Saturn. Then she left.

I was like, seriously wtf? I had to write it down so I wouldn't forget. That was my moment that I knew she would surpass me in brains. Which is hard to admit because I am a know-it-all asshole, just ask my husband;)

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work -  We added the water cycle to her daily list.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 7 the silent e.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 107-109 narration and linking verbs.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 3 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

Latin (Lively Latin) - I am moving really, really slow through this Latin program, we may even get 2 years out of it. We spent the week learning/memorizing our vocabulary words and our chants.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - 1 worksheet, story translation and the uses of s'appelle.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we finished up the review and division section this week. It was a nice gentle introduction into division. We also did 2 chapters from Life of Fred Elementary series.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter three Augustine Comes to England, Medieval Monasteries, and Writing Books by Hand. We did the corresponding map work and colouring her Illumination fancy Medieval letters. Tonight for dinner we at like the monks from medieval monasteries, lentil soup, bread and cheese, apples and pears, and apple cider (should be water but I hate water and they drank cider on special occasions). We watched House Hunter International while eating:)





This is our medieval meal, you can't really see it here. Merle decided she really likes old cheese, the older the better she says.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - Roo learned about seasons and the water cycle this week. She also went on a long nature walk with dad where she fell in a pond.

This isn't from the nature walk but it is her today enjoying the last flowers of the season of the first day of Fall while we were on our way to the grocery store.

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and went to South Korea. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method and started her continent blobs this week.  Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. This is what it looked like (I'll take a picture tomorrow because I forgot).

Our stamped passports and the flag of the countries we have visited.

Art (Meet the Masters) - This week we started our study on Vincent Van Gogh.

Composer Study - Classical while doing continent blobs and geography.

What did Merle do? She has started click her tongue repeatedly. No crawling really, she just kind of drags herself on her belly around to wherever she wants to go.

Bathroom Door - 1 ......Celtic War Axe - 0

Two weeks down and I think we may in fact be finding our groove. Except for that one day we slept in because the baby decided to sleep in and when she does we all silently rejoice and stay asleep.  For history this week we studied the Celts. I'm completely not a crafty person but I thought it would be fun to make Roo a Celtic war axe. I have pretty much zero craft supplies in the house except for the basic stuff so it was made from digging through the recycling box. This is the finished product which she loved.





 Later in the day she had on her princess dress because you know all warriors wear princess dresses. Anyway, she went running from her room into the kitchen screaming a Valkyrie war cry with her axe raised over her head and hit the bathroom door and landed on her butt. I have no idea how she didn't see it but she didn't and there were lots of tears and hugs and mutterings of how her hand was broken. I wanted to take a picture because it was kind of funny to see but I thought that would have been mean.

Also: NEW ADDICTION ALERT, it is called Pinterest, I love it. It allows you to keep track of visual lists of things you want, wishlists, idea lists, DIY lists, or in the case of me, wishful thinking lists, and honestly my life isn't complete until (fill in the blank) lists, here's mine. So addicting.

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work -  No change from last week as she has a pile of stuff that she is still working on daily.  

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 6 the silent e.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 104-106 pronouns and state of being verbs.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 2 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Latin (Lively Latin) - We completed Lesson 1.1 which was introducing us to different nouns and masculine, feminine and neuter how they work in Latin 

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - She did 2 worksheets and translated the story in to English.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we finished up the multiplication section this week. It was a nice gentle introduction into multiplication. She does math under the table for some reason.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter two The Celts of Britain, Barbarians come to Britain, and Beowulf the Hero. We did the corresponding map work and are in the middle of reading Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo which is a nice, light and entertaining version for kids.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - We learned about Earth from Space and Day and Night this week. No experiments though because she opted to bike ride instead which is fine by me because if this colder weather continues she won't be able to ride much longer. 

Geography (Expedition Earth)-  We stamped our passports and began our journey to Asia, first stop China. The Children Just Like Me book is great to be able to relate to how other children live around the world. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method. We began a rough sketch of our continent blobs this week. Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. That was a mouthful, and I am sure confusing to those that have no idea what I am talking about:)

Art (Meet the Masters) - This week we made our portfolio that will hold all of her artwork she makes this year.

Composer Study - Classical while doing art. I need to get something together asap. 

What did Merle do? She enjoys getting her hair vacuumed when we are cleaning which is strange because most kids are terrified of the vacuum. She also regularly does something we call The Dirty Old Man. Here is a video, it speaks for itself:)

Her vacuumed hair that resembles Donald Trump.

The Devil is in the Details

This was out first week back to full time school and our first week of what we call grade 2. So far so good with our selected curriculum for this year. I only made one change. After one lesson of Latin for Children A I knew it was going to be too hard for this year so we shelved it for now and I got Lively Latin. It has the right amount of work and history portions to keep her interested. So my title for this post comes from the fact that I just may be raising a smart a$$. I haven't decided if it is an age thing or if it is a personality thing but whatever it is, it is definitely annoying. When you give her instructions, ask her to do something or even ask her a question it seems that you have to make sure you ask for EXACTLY what you want and or expect from her or else she will inform you that, that wasn't what you asked. Therefore finding a loophole. For example,

Me: Roo bring your dishes from lunch time out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Roo: There are no dishes in there.

Me: Oh, did you already bring them in?

Roo: There are no dishes to bring in.

Me: What? You ate lunch so bring the dishes in.

Roo: Those aren't dishes, those are recyclable materials. 

Lunch came from a prepackaged container, there were in fact no dishes.

My husband has been trying to teach Roo how to ride a two wheeler. She seems to be more interested of when they take a break and she collects rocks and sticks. A few days ago she built a fire pit instead.

Our first week was four days due to Labour Day, so this is what we completed this week.

First day of school.

Memory Work -  We are still working through the same materials that we had in the box last year but are adding stuff from this year into it slowly. I added the planets this week for science.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 5.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 101-103 which was a review from last year.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 1 of writing, narrations, and dictation. This was her first time doing dictation. She didn't do too bad, it was more the spelling of some of the words that slowed her down.

Latin (Lively Latin) - This first week is kind of like an introduction. It has given us the history of Latin and some small exercises. All in all, it seems like a good fit for her age and she seems excited to do the lessons.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - This level is a gentle introduction to reading French. The level basically focuses on the French vowels and shows you how they are used via simple stories. These stories also aid in reading French. 

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - We are still finishing 1B but it seems to be moving quickly. We had to put it aside for a bit last year and did Math Mammoth for a bit to work on problem areas. 

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter one was about the Fall of Rome. We did map work  for it as well as placed out final timeline picture on the Ancients timeline (The Fall of Rome picture) before we now proceed to the middle ages. This is exciting for me because the Middle Ages is my favourite time period. I am looking forward to sharing this with Roo.

It's a crappy picture but that is the Ancients and Middle Ages timelines from Pandia Press. the other two levels will be added as we do those years.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - This week was like an introduction to earth and space. We learned about the earth, space and the moon. Then we built a paper mache model of earth which is in fact still drying and probably needs a second layer of stuff put on it. The we will paint it. She wanted to do the whole solar system, I thought no way:)

Our model of Earth in process. All we had was coloured news print so I hope we can paint of it.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We began with an introduction to the Continents and Oceans even though she knows them already. The I handed out the passports we will be using for our journey this year. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method. I think she has mastered the Great Five Circles and next week we may begin the continent blobs. 

Art (Meet the Masters) - We only did the introduction lesson this week. 

Composer Study - None this week. 

What did Merle do? She has figured out how to clap though it still surprises her when she does it. She kind of gets the waving thing, and she has taken to pulling her dress over her head until you say "where's Merle" and then she whips it down and laughs.





I learned how to do several different types of braids this week. This is the waterfall, the picture makes her hair look like she has a million split ends, I just didn't brush it before the picture. Not bad for my first attempt.

WW - New Fall/Winter Headwear

Hand made by a friend.

A Day in the Life of

My online mom group decided we would each do "day in the life of" posts so everyone could learn about one another more and them secretly compare ourselves to each other;) If I am talking about something and you are thinking WTH is that, I usually include links for as much as I can find. Just click on the green bolded words. 

So my day starts depending on when Merle wakes. If I keep the room dark and try not to move too much, sometimes I get a bit longer. Mostly it's me closing my eyes trying to pretend sleep in hopes she catches the drift. Usually not and she starts the day by plucking out her sucky and singing a little bit. It's usually between 7:30 and 8:30 (sometimes longer on the weekend). I have one happy morning kid and one crusty one. I get up and while I feed Merle I steep myself a cup of tea (because I like it super strong).



Happy morning breakfast baby.
After that I am usually catching myself up on Facebook and my favourite homeschooling forum The Well Trained Mind.  Lots and lots of great information on there. You can lose a full day once you start reading and researching. Time to wake the crusty one. It usually involves pulling back the blinds, cheering good morning, placing a baby on her head and whipping the covers back. Still it will take 15-20 minutes for her to crawl out of bed with a scowl and crazy hair.
It's time for me to motivate myself to exercise. Blah. Today I warmed up, did a workout called Prison Cell Exercises which I have aptly renamed, You Will Die in Prison Exercises. Then I stretched it out. This is my prison mugshot, I thought it was going to kill me.

Shower, dress and beautify. I have to shower with the door open since the bathroom is small and I can't bring Merle in. She hangs out in her jumper beside her sister (who is usually playing on the computer) which is right out front of the bathroom door. Showering with the door closed or without an audience, now what would that be like?

School time! If you ever watched Seinfeld you would know the Soup Nazi. I refer to myself as the school Nazi. Yes we do school during the summer. We take various other breaks throughout the year as needed but if we take the summer off, I know I will be spending the first two months of the next school year reteaching everything she forgot over the summer.
We start our lessons with daily memory work, and math facts. Next we work on geography. Where the Canadian provinces are located and what their capitals are and European countries on a map via online sources. Daily we do math, Latin, French, copywork, spelling and grammar. Alternating days are History (3x week) and Science (2x week). If she pays attention it usually takes close to 2 hours a day. She is Harry Potter obsessed right now so currently she goes to Hogwarts. She puts on a witch hat, has a wand and I have changed the class names to Chants, Transfiguration, Spells, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, History of Magic, Potions, Muggle Studies and Charms. Merle wants to join Hogwarts too.






Lunch is next and I usually read or scan the computer while eating. Merle is either cat napping, sitting on my knee or bouncing in her jumper. Roo usually eats lunch in the living room with her toys or while playing JumpStart on the computer. We did a quick photo shoot before going out.











We live right downtown so most things are really close and convenient. Today we went to the library which is 1.5 blocks away. She hung out with a little girl that was there while I perused the books. A quick 20 minute library visit turned into 1.5 hours. She also has the habit of reading and walking so I constantly have to pull her over to stop her from walking into people/objects.







Then we walked through town to the water front because they have ducks there she likes to feed. We have to do it covertly because we feed them our ends from the bread and the crunchy momma's (no offence) hang out there by the coffee shop in their mom group. They frown upon this and "encourage" feeding them corn and seeds. I don't need to be given nor do I deal well with someone lecturing me so we hide;) The grocery store is literally a 2 minute walk from home so we usually pick up stuff every 2-3 days in small quantities because I have to carry it home. Today was one of those days because I needed diapers. I often make Roo wear a backpack to carry stuff to help. It's usually only bread or other light things and she complains the whole way home. Even while I am strapped with a kid on my front and carrying 4 bags struggling, she is literally skipping along and complaining. It's annoying. We get home and put the groceries away then Roo stripped down and sat in front of the a/c unit because "she was disgustingly hot". Then we figured out what's for dinner. While thinking about it, I feed Merle. She had peas first with bananas after. She loves any kind of banana mixture and can't open her mouth quick enough for it.
I prepared a stir fry for me broccoli, green pepper, onion, leeks, a couple of eggs thrown in, slivered almonds and teriyaki sauce. Roo had kraft dinner because she's picky with stir fry on the side. Then she went into the bath. I wash her hair she hangs out in the tub until she wrinkles. When I went in to fish her out I noticed that her shampoo bottle was now almost completely empty and floating in the water. When I asked her what happened she declared that she wanted to smell like strawberries so she washed her body with it. Pretty expensive bath. Out she comes and then it's Merle's turn, quick, easy and painless. Roo gets a bedtime snack and Merle ate paper.



Then ready for bed. It's usually around 8:30 by the time I am able to get her in. We all climb into bed to read a couple of stories from Aesop's Fables for Children and a chapter from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Now we see how long she will be awake for, my guess is 11:30 or later. Merle takes her final 8 oz bottle before bed at 9:00 and slips into milk coma on her mat.

I slide her into bed when I go to bed and she will sleep until a 4am feeding. Right now is my time to fiddle on the computer, update my blog, or watch things that I have missed on TV because I get zero time to myself. I usually watch TV shows or Movies on THIS site. I love it it's awesome.  I've still got to wash, sterilize and prepare bottles and almost forgot:( It's now 12:00 and I am sliding into bed to read one of my three books on the go and Roo is still awake. She will be crusty in the morning and then the full circle starts again.

I Need Ginkgo Biloba - Weekly Report

Even though studies differ about it's efficiency, I remain optimistic. Because it's happening, I can feel it. My brain is in fact atrophying. I just spent at least 30 seconds staring at my camera trying to figure out where I plug in the usb cable to upload photos. We have had this camera for years. I also just realized that I forgot to pick up new dance tights for Roo this week even though I hung them smack dab where I would see them 50 times a day so I wouldn't forget. She wore her only pair of tights to dance under her new jeans last week and the blue dye from the jeans transferred so now she has tie dye tights. 

I also need to find a recycling box with a lock top because every time I turn around Roo is digging stuff out for "crafts". OR, worse my husband every once in a while flashes his pack rat tendencies by either digging out "useful" items in the recycling bin or raiding the bags I have filled to go to charity because we may just need that item someday. I personally would love for someone to come in and completely empty our home and bring back in things piece by piece so we can get rid of 3/4 of what is in here. This is the reason I drool over the Ikea catalogue. Those Swedes have the right idea.

Recycling bin harvesting mess. "crafts"

Merle was 4 months this week. She can now roll, but not on purpose. It still surprises her every time she flips from back to belly. The only room she has rolled in though is in the kitchen where the floor is very slanted, so it may in fact not count.

Happy 4 month birthday Merle the Squirrel!

What we finished this week:  

Memory Work - We are working on stanza 1 and 2 from the FLL poem Mr. Nobody plus whatever daily work comes out of the memory work box.  

Spelling (All About Spelling) - We completed lessons 19-22, which included the rules for  using ck and k. We are almost done level one and I plan on slowing level 2 down a lot. 

First Language Lessons - Lessons 82-84, poetry capitalization, pronouns and an oral composition.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 27 of copy work and narration exercises from A Christmas Carol excerpts. 

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review week

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.1 clothing terms test and numbers.

Math - Two pages of Math Mammoth 1A subtraction a day and 1 page of measurements. We also finished 1B shapes this week. 

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 27 The beginning of Rome, Romulus and Remus and The Power of Rome including map work.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we looked at the the senses this week. We completed some senses experiments and made a braille sentence. Which is kind of appropriate because before Roo got her glasses she was considered legally blind. We had no idea she had vision problems until she started giving signs at age 4. It makes me sad that she went years being unable to see properly without us realizing it.

Braille activity

Geography - Now that she knows the Canadian provinces and Territories memorized with map placement, we started working on their capitals this week. We are using Sheppard Software as our geography guide right now.

Art - This week she did a picture narration and a line drawing by sketching the contour of an object without looking down at the paper.

Hard at work and pissing and moaning that her pencil wasn't sharp enough. Is it my fault that she lost the only good sharpener we have after I specifically told her not to take it out of the room. It has entered the abyss of things to never be seen again.