5:50 a.m.–My alarm clock rang. I snoozed and finally shut it off.

6:30 a.m.–I get up and make my necessary preparations to hit the treadmill.  (Don’t let this impress you too much–this was the only time so far this week, I think.)

6:40-6:55 a.m.–Treadmill, Bible, prayer, and reading Organized Simplicity on my Kindle.

6:55-7:15  a.m.–Eat breakfast (oatmeal with almond butter, raisins, and honey, with orange juice to drink) and chat with Steady Eddie a bit.

7:15-8:05 a.m.–I showered, stripped the sheets off our bed, and unloaded the dishwasher.  Lulu, our early riser, was up before I showered, so she read while I performed my morning ablutions.  She also helped with the dishes. (This is usually a chore the girls help with, but this morning I decided to head it up since we had a lot to do.)  The DLM started making noise in his room at about 7:50, and I went in and awakened Louise at about 8:00 to ask her what she wanted for breakfast.  She wanted a bagel with peanut butter and honey, while Lulu requested her usual dry Cheerios (or the Aldi equivalent). 

8:05-9:20 a.m.–I dried my hair and then nursed the DLM and read him two books (yesterday’s choices:  Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs).  The girls finished eating (with a time limit, otherwise they’d sit and read/look at books all morning while “eating”), did their kitchen chores (wipe off table/chairs/sweep), and brushed their teeth.  I instructed them to get dressed in presentable play clothes since we’d be going out later, and this resulted in a fashion show and multiple changes of clothing.  (See that pile of clothes up there?  They can’t hang their clothes back up yet, so I had to pile them up to be put away later.  This drives me crazy!)  While I stripped the sheets off their bunk beds, Lulu began practicing the piano.  This resulted in a mini-meltdown for both of us (which was not a proud mommy moment for me, for sure), and after some prayer and hugs and talking, things got off to a little better start.

9:30-10:05 a.m.–Lulu and I work on her math lesson (RS C lesson 79) together.  Louise helped me by feeding the DLM his granola.  When the DLM tired of eating, he and Louise played together for a bit.  Lulu did great with her math yesterday, even volunteering to do a timed multiplication sheet.  She wrote her twos facts (maybe 20-25 problems?) in just over a minute!  While she worked on what she could independently, I worked on getting our lunch together for our picnic.  (Bless him, Steady Eddie made our PB&Js when he made his!)

11:00 a.m. -12:45 p.m.–We visited a park in a neighboring county because it has a great walking trail that affords some up-close-and-personal with nature opportunities.  It was very, very wet and muddy, but everyone enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine, even if it was cooler and windier than I expected it to be.  Steady Eddie even met us there for a picnic lunch!  After I finished eating I read about half a chapter from our current chapter book, Adam of the Road.

12:45-1:45 p.m.–We picked back up with our lessons back at home. Here’s how it went:

• 12:45–Louise and I did her reading lesson (OPGTTR lesson 122) while Lulu caught up on her booklist and read Winnie-the-Pooh (her assigned reading for the week). 
• 1:00–Lulu and I did FLL 58 during which she was introduced to prepositions for the first time.  Louise worked on adding her latest book to her booklist.
• 1:17–Lulu did her WWE lesson; today’s was a dictation from Five Children and It.  She had to write a direct quotation and punctuate it correctly.
• 1:26–Lulu’s spelling lesson–AAS level 1 lesson 21.  We’re still catching up in spelling!
• 1:38–Louise and I read a chapter together from Aunt Eater Loves a Mystery.
• 1:45–rest time!

1:45-2:10 p.m.–I rocked/nursed the DLM and caught up on Read Aloud Thursday posts on the iPad!

2:10-3:00 p.m.–I ate a snack (a dark chocolate/coconut muffin and some water) and worked on this post.  The girls listened to audiobooks and played/made messes in the bedrooms. 

3:10-3:40 a.m.–Teatime!  We went over our memory work:  our hymn, “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart”; Psalm 24; and ”Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” I finished reading the book Castle by David Macauley to the girls, and I had them do an oral narration and called that good for history.  Oh, and I also read a surprisingly good picture book, Ready to Dream by Donna Jo Napoli.

3:40-4:35 a.m.–Lots of busy-ness–awaken and bathe the DLM; iron clothes; get everyone ready for our picture.  Whew!

4:35-6:30 a.m.–Church and Aldi.

6:30-8:00 a.m.–Supper prep and clean up; piano practice (Lulu practiced about fifteen more minutes; Louise still has to have supervision for her practice); girls’ baths; laundry; room tidying.

8:00-8:30ish–Science lesson led by Steady Eddie! Food as fuel/energy. Fire=fun!   (I LOVE science, but I have to admit that it is great to have someone else step in and take responsibility for a great science lesson each week!)  The DLM tried really, really hard to blow out the flame from across the table each time Steady Eddie would light the piece of food, which was so cute and funny.  After Steady Eddie’s fabulous demonstration and discussion, I read a Let’s Read and Find Out Science Book aloud, Energy Makes Things Happen.  By then, the DLM was D.O.N.E., so we headed off to “night night” land. 

The pecan produced the biggest flame of all!

That’s a long school day, huh?  We’re really working the learning lifestyle thing right now, but it’s as it must be with a toddler in tow.  I’m mostly okay with that; it’s great to have Steady Eddie be involved with the learning, and I really appreciate his science expertise.  Plus, our lessons are mostly short, so while it’s a long day, it’s not too strenuous at any time.   While there are many, many things about our days I’d change (if I could only manage my time better!), I mostly feel good about what we’re doing.  What’s not seen here is just how much reading/ picture studying the girls do individually:  their noses are stuck in books at every opportunity.  (Check out This Week in Books for a picture of what we read each week.)  Although each day is different, most days are overall fairly similar in how much we accomplish.  I feel blessed to have this life with my family. 

Previous day-in-the-life posts at Hope Is the Word:

• August 22, 2011–ages 7, 5, and 14 months
• August 23, 2010–ages 6, 4, and 2 months

I’m linking up with Simple Homeschool, Collage Friday, and Weekly Wrap-Up.

I’m in the middle of Still by Lauren F. Winner and Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (Kindle book; not pictured).  I actually finished one this week:  The Shadow of Ghadames by Joëlle Stolz (review forthcoming next week). 

Lulu read Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and intends to continue with The House at Pooh Corner, the second book in our big blue anthology.  (This was her assigned reading, although she actually picked it off the shelf herself.)  In addition to this and a boatload of Boxcar Children books (including the original, for which she smiled rapturously when I brought it to her from the library last weekend), Lulu has also been reading about Native Americans again. 

Louise’s reading is picking up dramatically.  This week we found and finished Young Cam Jansen and the Library Mystery, The Collectors (a Cork and Fuzz book), and started reading Aunt Eater Loves a Mystery. (All of these were shared reading titles–I read a page, and then she reads one.) 

We are still in the middle of three read-alouds:  Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray, Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz, and Sebastian Bach:  The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher.   

 This doesn’t account for Steady Eddie’s or the DLM’s reading this week.   Also missing is a book we read for our science lesson:  Energy Makes Things Happen.

Have you had a bookish week?

It’s a random pairing today, folks. 

I have a soft spot in my heart for anything by Patricia Polacco, although I will concede that perhaps her very detailed stories are more ”just the right book at just the right time for just the right child” kind of reads.  Her newest offering, Bun Bun Button, is for a younger audience I think than most of her other books that I’ve read.  However, for my six year old and me, this  delightful, tender story was a snuggle-on-the-couch together kind of book that just hit the spot.  It’s the story of a preschooler named Paige who stays with her gramma most days after preschool.  Paige Darling and Gramma do all sorts of fun things together:  bake sand cookies, make up the beds, feed the pets, and snuggle together for special story time in the Big Blue Chair.  When Paige realizes that all the pets have special toys Gramma made just for them, she requests a handmade toy of her own.  Gramma obliges by making Paige a lovey she names Bun Bun Button, a rabbit with a special “ear pocket” just right for Paige to hide her finger in when she holds Bun Bun up to her face.  This story goes from super sweet to exciting when when Paige decides to tie Bun Bun Button to a helium balloon.  I won’t ruin the ending, but suffice it to say that as Gramma often says, “We’re Darlings, and we Darlings have always been lucky!”  I think the reason why I like this one so much is that Lulu has her own beloved Bunny, and although she is too sophisticated to enjoy a story like this right now, I am not.  (You can see a picture of Lulu’s Bunny and Louise’s Bear in this RAT post, a review of another sweet story.)    Second, we read a similar story a long time ago about a little bear (I think) that floated away on a hot air balloon, and this particular story scarred made quite an impression on Louise.  I remember one Sunday when she was all dressed up with a big bow in her hair, and when she got out of the van, she grabbed her bow to hold it down so she wouldn’t float away.  (Apparently, the story had something to do with a bow, too, but I’ve forgotten the details.)  Anyway, Louise has since recovered, but sharing this story with her brought out my own fond reminiscences about my girls’ earliest years.  Patricia Polacco’s artwork is messy and expressive and colorful, just perfect for this warm story.  Read this one with your own preschooler, especially if you have family members of the stufffed variety.  (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011)

The first book is super sweet, and this next one is super silly, in the best possible way!  Look Out, Jack!  The Giant Is Back! by Tom Birdseye is just plain fun.  It’s the rest of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  After Jack escapes the giant, he and his mother flee to America, taking with them the goose that lays the golden eggs and the singing harp.  They settle down on a “nice little farm in the mountains of North Carolina” and are happy there until the giant finds them!  The giant has now changed his tune from “fee fi fo fum” to

Wham blam hickity hack!

I’m gonna get that boy named Jack!

He now be living, but soon he’ll roast!

I’ll spread him with mustard and eat him on toast!

Isn’t that a hoot?  Tom Birdseye’s wordsmithery makes this story a delight to read aloud.  Here are a couple of gems to whet your appetite:

Life was good, and peaceful, and oh-so fragrant. . . until one day in August when it was so hot Jack had to pack the hen in ice to keep her from laying hard-boiled eggs instead of golden ones. 

Jack–being as smart as a tree full of owls–had a plan.

 Of course, Jack outwits the giant with a silly, kid-pleasing solution, and all is well at his little mountain cabin once again.  This would make a fun addition to a lesson about figurative language.  Will Hillenbrand‘s illustrations are very detailed and colorful–I could study them for a while, just for fun.  (I’ve reviewed a couple of other books he illustrated:  Counting Crocodiles and The Last Snake in Ireland.)  I give this one a Highly Recommended for pure, unadulterated read-aloud fun! (Holiday House, 2001)

Related links:

• Patricia Polacco’s website
• Tom Birdseye’s website
• Will Hillenbrand’s website

 I want to give a big, huge WELCOME to all the new Read Aloud Thursday participants!  Last week we had a record twenty links on the RAT list!  I try as often as I can to get around and visit each one, so please know that if I fail to comment on your post this week, I’ll try to get to your next one.    Oh, and occasionally (like last week) I can’t comment on some blogs due to technical difficulties.  I know that the RAT community that has grown up over the past three years is the main reason why I love it so much, and that only happens through our commenting on each other’s blogs.  Let’s keep the comment love going!

Darth Paper Strikes Back was shortlisted for this year’s Cybils in the middle grade fiction category.  I’ve only read one of the other nominees so far–The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson–so I’m reserving judgment.  I don’t typically think of a series book like Darth Paper as a potential award winner since much of its strength (probably?) comes from the book that came before it, but I actually think this one more-or-less can stand on its own.  I haven’t read the first book, The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, but I was able to pick up this one with little problem. There’s a lot of insight in this little story, plus it’s just quirky and fun with a lot of kid appeal.  I give it a Highly Recommended.  (Amulet Books, 2011)

Related links and reviews elsewhere:

• Book website

• This teacher had a Darth Paper party (He also named it an Awesome 2011 Middle Grade Novel and wrote the little blurb on the Cybils shortlist page.)

• Review by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books

• Review at Becky’s Book Reviews

• Caryl at Leaning Tower of Books read it aloud to her children!

I serendepitously happened upon a few fun books about Groundhog Day last week at the library, and I thought I’d share them here at Hope Is the Word.  February 2nd usually comes comes and goes without much thought from me about these furry little mammals, but it is a fun tradition, and I was happy to share these books with my girls.  The Secret of the First One Up by Iris Hiskey Arno is my favorite.  In this sweet book, a little girl groundhog named Lila learns about Groundhog Day after her Uncle Wilbur challenges her to be the first one to go Above Ground after a winter’s nap.  Renee Graef of My First Little House Books fame is the  illustrator of this sweet and gentle story.

Gregory’s Shadow, written and illustrated by Don Freeman (whom you will recognize as the author and illustrator of  Corduroy), is the fun story of Gregory the Groundhog who loses his shadow when he goes outside the day before Groundhog Day.  What follows is a fun and suspenseful adventure at the end of which Gregory and his shadow are reunited just in time for Groundhog Day.  Please note that this story contains a reference to a ghost.

These books provide great introductions to the tradition of Groundhog Day.  What a great way to spend time together while waiting to learn whether or not we’ll have six more weeks of winter–reading!!

I have been holding Anne of Green Gables closely, not sure when the optimal time will be to read it aloud to my girls.  I didn’t discover it until I was eleven or twelve, and I think that’s just about right.  However, I do not think I can hold the girls off from it for that long.  For one thing, there’s mine and Steady Eddie’s P.E. I. honeymoon, for which we have a chunky scrapbook just sitting on a shelf in the living room.  Then there are referrals by other members of my family and friends to the book or the movie.  Truly, it played such a huge role in my teenage years that no one who knows me well is ignorant of its importance to me.  (You can read a little bit about how I came to love L.M. Montgomery’s works here.)  Add to all this the fact that we all saw a stage adaptation a few years ago (which Louise doesn’t remember at all but Lulu most definitely does remember!), and what I have on my hands is a conspiracy against my plan to keep my girls ignorant of the joys of Anne until just the right moment. 

Well, last week Louise found an adaptation of the beloved classic in the picture books at the library, and I permitted her to bring it home.    We read it immediately after lunch.  (When I say immediately, I mean that she was actually disappointed that we didn’t read it when we walked through the door.)  Our particular adaptation, the one by M. C. Helldorfer, is one I’ve seen around book blogdom, so I thought at worst it must be okay.  And it is-okay.  It covers the basic plot of Anne, including her friendship with Diana and the unfortunate schoolroom incident with Gilbert (I believe it’s called “A Tempest in the School Teapot” in the real book).  However, and this is a big however, it glosses over so much of what I love about the story–Anne’s verbosity; Marilla’s iron will; Matthew’s shy love; etc.  Maybe gloss over is too strong; Helldorfer does a fairly decent job at getting across the idea that Marilla is strict and Matthew loves Anne, but to me, it’s just not the same thing.  I even found myself improvising lines and getting into character a bit while I was reading, adding emphasis to words and phrases like the actors and actresses do in the movie.  (I realize that the movie might also be considered an adaptation, but if it is, it is a faithful one, with much of the script taken directly from the text.) The one thing that is missing in the Helldorfer adaptation, and for all I know this might have something to do with copyright issues (though I think it’s public domain now, no?), is voice.  It might be because I would recognize Anne’s voice anywhere due to my familiarity with the story, but this (any?) adaptation rings hollow without the characters’ actual words, the way the author wrote them.  Voice is so important; it’s what makes the characters, and without it an adaptation is like that dull Sleeping Beauty book I threw out–bland, colorless, and tasteless.  Blech.  Although I might be convinced that good adaptations have some merit for a child who wants to read a story that is too long or complicated for his ability or maturity level, for a read-aloud, I have to say go straight for the original work.  I think I might give Anne a go with my girls next January.  This adaptation is going back to the library where it belongs.

Today is the wrap-up for the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge at Reading to Know.  Here’s a listing of four years’ worth of L.M. Montgomery posts here at Hope Is the Word, for those of you who can’t get enough. 

Jane of Lantern Hill review

The Blue Castle review

Pat of Silver Bush review

Mistress Pat review

 Magic for Marigold review

Kilmeny of the Orchard review

A Tangled Web review

PEI Reminscences, a post in which I share pictures and memories of mine and Steady Eddie’s honeymoon on the Island

L.M. Montgomery Meanderings, a post in which I reminisce about how I became such a fan

Vivian French is a prolific author with scores of books to her credit, including a book we enjoyed several years ago, Growing Frogs (linked to my review).

(Candlewick, 2009)

It was a timely read, too! Thanks to this book, we had a mini-lesson on earthworms when we observed one on our latest nature walk.

This week’s Nonfiction Monday round-up is at Wendie’s Wanderings.

I love looking at the silhouettes of trees in the winter time!

 Walking along, we noticed quite a few things:

Notice in the insects in the lower right hand corner?

The only animals we saw were the insects on the tree bark, the earthworm in the picture above and a whole bunch of fish in a little creek off the river.  The nest-like arrangement of branches and twigs we found just like that, on top of a rock.  Interesting.  I wonder if the skeletal leaf is the work of leaf miners?  The girls also noticed that the tip-top branches of the trees were swaying in the wind, and we discussed why this was so. 

Getting out in nature with my children is a challenge and takes effort, especially because the DLM is at the stage where he doesn’t want to ride in the stroller but he isn’t quite big enough to go it alone just yet.   However, whenever I do make the time to be intentional about getting outdoors, I am never disappointed or filled with regret about the time we spent.  I am determined next month to make it more of a priority.  I’m back on the wagon. 

First glimpse of the Tennesse River

(Come back tomorrow for a great picture book resource for learning about Yucky Worms!  )