Is every corner of your house decorated in fall colors?
Does your child have a costume they want to wear every day?
Do you bake until pumpkin pie comes out of your ears?
Wow – is it really fall already? I mean, I know it is – and it’s almost over, but I’m not personally there yet. Our fall-themed study is still coming up – I hope to have it done by December!
Just as well – since all the fall picture books have been checked out of the library, and maybe they’ll be checked back in by then. And all the fall stuff will be on clearance in the stores. There really are some benefits to being half-a-season-behind.
So to answer the questions: no, we don’t have any decorations up - yet. Yes, my child wants to wear a costume every day – but that has nothing to do with fall. And I will gladly eat pumpkin pie until it comes out of my ears, but I’m not squeezing the baking thing into my schedule very well right now.
What seems to be in our tradition – getting taxes done by the Oct 15 extended deadline. That means DVD marathon for Miss Esmé.
I did try to make up for it by a trip to the pumpkin patch. And hopefully that will become a tradition.
Next year I’ll try to fit in Reformation Day activities.
And next year our fruit trees and vines should be bearing again, and we’ll protect our garden from the deer, so we’ll actually get to really celebrate harvest.
This year, the 1 hour we gain because of Daylight Savings Time will be my biggest cause for celebration. Seriously. Now to think of some activities to fill up that hour…
I thought I’d give you a little visual tour of the steps before telling you our opinions…
First we read about seaweed and how it is harvested, and then we soak REAL seaweed.
While that’s soaking, we find objects to use for creating candy molds. We wash and dry them…
Then we spread out the molding starch and attempt to make molds with our clean little objects. When all else fails, we use our fingers. And grab out the Jello Jigglers mold tray.
With the molds ready to go, we start cooking up the seaweed and seaweed powder. Before adding the colored sugar packet, we dig the whole seaweed out of the mix, since it’s done its job.
Mom pours the stuff into the molds and we stick it into the fridge while we go outside to play. When we get back, we unmold and dip the candies (or gummy cookies, as Esmé calls them) into sour coating.
And we eat them.
And we are very happy!
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Alrighty, let’s get to the official blurb about this product:
Available in Make Your Own Chocolate, Make Your Own Chewing Gum, and Make Your Own Gummies, these activity kits are all-natural, educational, and eco-friendly. With pre-packaged ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions, everyone aged 8 and up gets a real kick out of making candy from scratch. Focusing on the history behind and the origin of these candies, each kit is designed to captivate your interest, connect you to the global community, and create something yummy to eat in the process!
What We Liked: This is a perfect item for our Christmas list. It’s clutter-free. Kids will love it – it’s candy, after all. Parents will love the educational and creative aspect of it – and the ingredients aren’t too bad for a candy.
Personally, I loved the educational sheet, which introduces Divina, a girl whose family grows seaweed in the Philippines. Not only does it explain a little of the science involved, it encourages global awareness and responsibility. I think the full lesson plans provided on the Glee Gum site would be terrific for older kids.
As a vegetarian who *tries* to avoid gelatin, I was pleased that this product does not use it. Another plus for seaweed gels is that they can be reheated and poured if you want to reshape something or do a second run.
The kit gives both stovetop and microwave directions. We went stovetop since it seems more tangible, but it’s nice to have both options.
And Esmé? Loved just about everything in the process. She was completely engaged from beginning to end, especially the consumption. And that makes Mom happy!
What We Didn’t Like: One step of the process drove Mom crazy – the molding starch. No matter how carefully we pressed objects into the starch, it would crack, or at best, leave a very vague impression. Esmé really really wanted gummy fish, but I couldn’t manage it – a little disappointment on her part. But she perked right up when I brought out the Jello Jiggler tray. Ice cube trays would probably work just fine, too.
Also: the package is clearly labeled for ages 8 & up. I’m not sure entirely why – perhaps that’s the recommended age for unsupervised candy making.
Overall – a terrific concept and product that we thoroughly enjoyed and will be passing on to others.
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Would you like to try this out? Check the store locator to find a store near you!
Glee Gum is offering one lucky reader their choice of one of the following:
Make Your Own Chewing Gum Kit
Make Your Own Gummy Candy Kit
Make Your Own Chocolate Kit
To Enter:
Leave a comment stating which kit you’d like to win. Make sure I have a way to contact you.
If you’re a subscriber or follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.
Grandma gets credit for lots of things in this house.
I buy three-year-old Esmé some cute little trinket while we’re out on the town, and when we get home, her Pappa asks where she got it from.
“My grandma bought it for me. She got it from a store in Africa.” Or some other such thing.
Ahem…
So, Esmé started the Knock Knock joke phase this week, and I amazed her with my vast repertoire of three Knock Knock jokes. She tried them all back on me.
Then came this gem.
Esmé: Knock knock!
Mom: Who’s there?
Esmé: Peon!
Mom (unsuspecting, sure this has to do with peonies): Peon who?
Esmé: Pee on you!
Mom (shocked): Esmé! Where did you hear that one?
Esmé: My grandma told it to me!
Grandma! What were you thinking? (It’s only fair that you get credit for the bad as well as the good…)
Anyways, I am in serious need of some good Knock Knock jokes. Anyone? Please?!
I’ve been checking out upholstered headboards over at CSN’s Bedroom Furniture.com store, and somehow I keep ending up looking at items like this:
Or like this:
And I really wish I could be a kid again. Sigh…
Well, the good news is that CSN is offering a $75 gift code to one lucky reader! It’s good for any one of CSN’s 200+ stores – so you COULD use it towards a fancy upholstered headboard, or one of those cool beds above that would keep me awake all night.
Or you could get a sweet lil’ bean bag, lamps, area rugs, kiddie-sized tables and chairs, and all kinds of great stuff for your child’s learning space.
Your choice…
To Enter to win one $75 gift code for CSN’s stores:
Comment on this post telling me what kind of headboard you have, if any.
If you’re a follower or subscriber, leave a second comment for a second entry.
Giveaway ends November 10, 2010. Winner will be chosen randomly. Open to US and Canadian readers only.
Yesterday one of Esmé’s assignments was to color a leaf with “fall” colors – any color(s) of her choice. She spent quite a while – rare since her perfectionist style is at conflict with her 3yo attention span – and this is what she came up with.
It just makes me smile!
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
It’s been raining and hailing and blustering around like crazy…
So I guess we got the pumpkin patch trip in just in time!
First we pose as a pony:
Then we run through the corn maze:
Finally we get to the pumpkin patch to pick out OUR pumpkin. Wow! Where do we start?
Here’s a possibility – and it’s got a bonus stem/leaf still on it… A little small, though.
Maybe this one. Except it’s got dirt on it.
Now here’s a unique one! But Mom says no decayed pumpkins…
Ahh! The perfect peanutty-shaped pumpkin that looks like two pumpkins! And it’s big enough! Now comes the lift test. Can I lift it?
Ugggh. This is harder than I thought! But I CAN do it.
The rain starts pouring down! Here’s a handy umbrella…
And it’s got SEEDS in it!
Finally, the rain stops, just as it’s time to get back on the hay wagon and head back to the parking lot (where the car is locked with the keys inside).
I’ve been singing skip-counting songs with three-year-old Esmé, and when we’re in our groove, she can make it through the 5s and 10s – but I haven’t spent much time with her on written numbers past 20.
So we’ve been having fun with the Fall Themed Skip Counting Cards by Eastern Wind Academy, which includes 2s, 5s, and 10s sets – each through 100. Esmé is fascinated with flipping the cards and checking out what the numbers look like. It’s amazed me that she has the patience to go through the 2s all the way to 100 – another example of a review product that stretches her beyond what I would have thought to do.
I cut out each set of cards and stuck them on the rings of a 3-ring binder. They would probably be easier to flip through on a single ring, but I didn’t have any on hand, and the binder does keep them all together in one spot nicely.
What I Liked: These are exactly what you think you’ll be getting – a printable set of number cards with a fall-themed picture on them. It’s the kind of thing you’d think you could put together easily enough on your own, but why bother when someone has already done it for you?!
Esmé in particular found the cards appealing, even though there was nothing pink about them! Definitely a positive for this product.
What I Didn’t Like: This is such a straight-forward basic product that it’s hard to dislike anything.
One thing I might do differently on the page layout: Have all the cards connected rather than with white space between. This way, I would only have to make one cut between the cards, rather than two.
Also, there was a duplicate “60” card in the 10 set. Not a significant issue, just something I caught as I was putting the folder together…
Rating: Overall, I’ll give these a 3.5/5.
Thanks to Heart of the Matter for coordinating the review file of this product. You can currently acquire the printable cards through CurrClick for $0.75.
The Homeschool Village link-up today is on the topic of uniforms, and I thought we’d join in! Consider this a Fashion Friday preview...
Personally, the idea of being caught in my jammies mid-day doesn’t appeal to me – and I feel most productive after getting showered and dressed.
So that’s what’s first on my schedule, and in general I try to impose the same standards on my daughter – getting her out of her jammies fairly early in the day (and getting her hair up and out of her eyes for a few minutes). We may have started “school” already – I’m schedule-challenged, so we insert school stuff wherever we can throughout the day – but usually by 10 a.m. or so the jammies have been shed.
However – she dresses herself and has full access to her clothes all day long, so I’m never sure what she is going to come out with – at any time of day. We go through 2-3 outfits a day at least when we’re home.
During the summer, she changed swimming suits about 7 times a day – the number of swimming suits she owns. Sometimes she runs around in a slip, or with a princess dress-up dress on top of her bathing suit. She loves anything with a twirly skirt. Lately she’s into stockings. Today she picked out wearing a brown tank top with pink Hawaiian print shorts; other days, she insists on matching colors or sparkly shoes. Black doesn’t match with ANYTHING, by the way.
I do impose a few standards – no jammies or plain slips outside, shoes are required outside, no underwear showing, a reasonable attempt to dress for the weather is mandated.
But that’s about it. I look forward to watching Esmé’s individuality continue to manifest itself in her clothing choices!
Here’s a recent sample of a day’s uniform. Wouldn’t YOU study better with swimming wings and flippers on, too?
Title: Eat This and Live! For Kids: Simple, Healthy Food & Restaurant Choices Author: Don Colbert, MD with Joseph A. Cannizzaro, MD Genre: Health & Fitness How to enter: Leave a comment on on this post. If you're a subscriber or a follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.
Entry deadline: November 10, 2010
Restrictions: Open internationally!
This is my review copy, so it has been gently read.
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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Anna Coelho Silva | Publicity Coordinator, Book Group | Strang Communications for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Don Colbert, MD, is board-certified in family practice and anti-aging medicine and has received extensive training in nutritional and preventative medicine. He is the author of numerous books, including two New York Times best sellers, Dr. Colbert’s “I Can Do This” Diet and The Seven Pillars of Health.
Joseph A. Cannizzaro, MD, has practiced pediatric medicine for thirty years with specialties in developmental pediatrics, nutrition, and preventive medicine. He is the founder and managing pediatrician for the Pediatricians Care Unit in Longwood, Florida.
Here's a video about the adult version, Eat This and Live!:
Product Details:
List Price: $17.99
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Siloam; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616381388
ISBN-13: 978-1616381387
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
EATING HABITS OF
THE NEXT GENERATION
Eating Habits and Our Future
How Has an entire generation of hefty eaters changed the face of the world? By starting young. And once again, this unflattering trend originated in America. In the United States, 17.1 percent of our children and adolescents―that's 2.5 million youth―are now reported to be either overweight or obese.
As a result of childhood obesity, we are seeing a dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes throughout the country. And because of the connection obesity has with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), and heart disease, experts are predicting a dramatic rise in heart disease as our children become adults. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reports that overweight teens stand a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adults, and that is increased to 80 percent
if at least one parent is overweight or obese. Because of that, heart disease and type 2 diabetes are expected to begin at a much earlier age in those who fail to beat the odds.2 Overall, this is the first generation of children that is not expected to live as long as their parents, and they will be more likely to suffer from disease and illness.
If you do not take charge of your food choices for yourself, at least do it for your children. Children follow by example, by mirroring the behavior of their parents. Don't tell them to make healthy eating choices without doing it yourself. I'm sure most of you love your children and are good parents. But ask yourself: Do you love your children enough to make the necessary lifestyle changes? Do you love them enough to educate them on what foods to eat and what foods to avoid? Do you love them enough to keep junk food out of your house and instead make healthy food more available? Do you love them enough to exercise regularly and lead by example?
If you answered yes to those questions, it is important that you not only take action right now but also that you make changes for them that last a lifetime.
But let me be honest; this is not an easy fight when it involves your children's lives. As the little boxes of information on this page illustrate, the culture in which your children are growing up is saturated with junk food that is void of nutrition but high in toxic fats, sugars, highly processed carbohydrates, and food additives. Consuming these foods has become part of childhood.
You can do it, but you must be prepared to stand strong! That's why I am ecstatic that you have picked up this book. I believe you now hold a key to truly changing your life and your children's lives.
Stand Strong!
If you're planning on taking a stand against this garbage-in, garbage-out culture, expect some opposition from every front. During the course of a year, the typical American child will watch more than thirty thousand television commercials, with many of these advertisements pitching fast-food or junk food as delicious “must-eats.” For years, fast food franchises have enticed children into their restaurants with kids' meal toys, promotional giveaways, and elaborate playgrounds. It has obviously worked for McDonald's: about 90 percent of American children between the ages of three and nine set foot in one each month.
It's All Part of the Plan
Fast-food establishments spend billions of dollars on research and marketing. They know exactly what they are doing and how to push your child's hot button. They understand the powerful impact certain foods can have. That is why comfort foods often do more than just fill the stomach; they bring about memories of the fair, playgrounds, toys, backyard birthday bashes, Fourth of July When your kids can't visit the Golden parties, childhood friends . . . the list goes on. Advertisers have keyed into this and products―most of which are brought learned to use the sight of food to stimulate the same fond childhood memories.
School Cafeteria or Fast Food Franchise?
When your kids can't visit the Golden Arches, it comes to them. Fast-food products―most of which are brought in by franchises―are sold in about 30 percent of public high school cafeterias and many elementary cafeterias.
An Alarming Trend in Children's Health
By teaching your children healthy eating habits, you can keep them at a healthy weight. Also, the eating habits your children pick up when they are young will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle when they are adults. The challenges we face are imposing. The state of children's health today is, according to recent measures, at its most dire. The rise in rates of complex, chronic childhood disorders has been well profiled. Here are some concrete examples of the current state of children's health:
Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children.5
Obesity is epidemic.
Fifty percent of children are overweight.6
Diabetes now affects 1 in every 500 children. Of those children newly diagnosed with diabetes, the percentage with type 2 (“adult-onset”) has risen from less than 5 percent to nearly 50 percent in a ten-year period.
Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease affecting American children, leading to 15 million missed days of school per year. Since 1980, the percentage of children with asthma has almost tripled.
Approximately 1 in 25 American children now suffer from food allergies.
From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18 percent among children under the age of eighteen years.
One in 6 children is diagnosed with a significant neurodevelopmental disability, including 1 in 12 with ADHD. Autism affects 1 in 150 U.S. children, an extraordinary rise in prevalence.
Babies in one study were noted, at birth, to have an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants present in their umbilical cord blood.
These statistics are sobering indeed, and perhaps the most sobering is the rise in childhood obesity. Why? Obesity plays a part in several other chronic illnesses that are also on the rise among children. And there's an unwelcome side effect―more kids are being put on prescription medications for obesity-related chronic diseases. Across the board, we are witnessing increases in prescriptions for children with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and asthma. There must be a better way.
Top Three Tips for Parents
1. Lead by example. Your child will have an extremely difficult time making healthy eating choices and exercising
regularly if you don't consistently show him or her how.
2. Take baby steps that lead to lasting changes. If your child is overweight, avoid diets that promise instant
3. Take your time as you replace your child's old habits with healthy ones. This goes hand in hand with tip #2.
You're in this for the long haul. It takes time to adapt to a new lifestyle. Be patient as he or she adjusts to the new eating habits and activities that you will be introducing.
What we need now is an absolute paradigm shift. No longer are the “one drug, one disease” solutions of the past appropriate. These are times that demand out-of-the-box thinking. That's where this book can help. If your child is overweight or you want to lower his or her risk of becoming overweight down the road, there are many positive, natural ways you can address the situation. In this book, Dr. Cannizzaro and I provide you with information and ideas to help you help your child.
Understanding Childhood Obesity
Now that we've shared the bad news about the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States, let's make sure you really understand the terms overweight and obese. Many people have a general sense as to how these words are different, yet in recent years the delineation has become clearer. Various health organizations, including the CDC and the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), now officially define these terms using the body mass index (BMI), which factors in a person's weight relative to height. Most of these organizations define an overweight adult (twenty years of age and older) as having a BMI between 25 and 29.9, while an obese adult is anyone who has a BMI of 30 or higher.12 For children and teens, BMI is measured differently, allowing for the normal variations in body composition between boys and girls and at various ages.
For ages two to nineteen, the BMI (or BMI-for-age) is pinpointed on a growth chart to determine the corresponding age- and sex-specific percentile.
· Overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile.
· Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.
BMI is the most widely accepted method used to determine body fat in children and adults because it's easy to measure a person's height and weight. However, while BMI is an acceptable screening tool for initial assessment of body composition, please remember that it is not a direct measure of body fatness. There are other factors that can affect body composition, and your child's doctor can discuss these with you.
If you think your child may be overweight, start by talking to his or her pediatrician. (See the box on the next page for some suggested questions to ask your child's doctor.) After determining your child's BMI and targeting a healthy weight range for your child, make a plan together as a family. It's a good idea to include any regular caregivers in this plan as well. Set a goal for the whole family to get lots of exercise and eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Keep reading for more ways to help your
family!
Wondering About Your Child's Weight?
Five Questions to Ask Your Pediatrician
I understand that you probably don't want to talk about the possibility that your child may not be at a healthy weight. To help make this as painless as possible, I recommend asking your doctor the following questions to get the conversation started.
1. What is a healthy weight for my child's height?
Your doctor will use a growth chart to show you how your child is growing and give you a healthy weight range for your child. The doctor may also tell you your child's body mass index (BMI). The BMI uses a person's height and weight to determine the amount of body fat.
2. Is my child's weight putting him or her at risk for any illnesses?
Based on your family history and other factors, your doctor can help you to determine what health risks your child may be facing. Overweight, inactive children with a family history of type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of being diagnosed with the disease. High blood pressure can also occur in overweight children.
3. How much exercise does my child need?
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends at least one hour of exercise a day. Your doctor will be able to suggest specific ways to help your child, such as walking the dog, playing catch instead of video games, and other forms of activity.
4. Does my child need to go on a diet?
Although an overweight child's eating habits will probably need to change, I don't advise using the word diet because it focuses on short-term eating habits that are rarely sustainable for long-term health. Children (and adults) who become chronic dieters are setting themselves up for problems with their metabolism later in life. A healthier approach is to put your whole family on the path to a healthy lifestyle with gradual but permanent changes. The recommendations in this book are a great place to start.
5. How do I talk about weight without hurting my child's feelings?
Your child might be sensitive about his or her weight, especially if he or she is getting teased. Above all, the message must never be, “You're fat,” or “You need to lose weight.” Instead, it should be, “Our family needs to make better choices about eating and being more active so that we all can be healthy.”
Why Food Choices Matter
All men are created equal, but all foods are not! In fact, some food should not be labeled “food” but rather “consumable product” or “edible, but void of nourishment.” Living foods―fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts―exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels. Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive. They have not been bleached, refined or chemically enhanced and preserved. Living foods are plucked, harvested squeezed―not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf.
Dead foods are the opposite. They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible. That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and man-made fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.
Life breeds life. Death breeds death. When your child eats living foods the enzymes in their pristine state interact with his or her digestive enzymes. The other natural ingredients God put in them―vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants and more―flow into your child's system in their natural state. These living foods were created to cause your child's digestive system, bloodstream, and organs to function at optimum capacity.
Dead food hit your child's body like a foreign intruder. Chemicals, including preservatives, food additives, and bleach agents place a strain on the liver. Toxic man-made fats begin to form in your child's cell-membranes; they become stored as fat in your child's body and form plaque in his or her arteries. Your child's body does its best to harvest the tiny traces of good from these deadly foods, but in the end he or she is undernourished and overweight.
If you want your child to be a healthy, energetic person rather than someone bouncing between all-you-can-eat buffets and fast-food restaurants, take his or her eating habits seriously. Now is the time to help your son or daughter make the change to living foods.
Isn't it Really Just Genetics?
For every obese person, there is a story behind the excessive weight gain. Growing up, I would often hear it said of an obese person that she was just born fat, or he takes after his daddy. There s some truth in both of those. Genetics count when it comes to obesity. In 1988, the New England Journal of Medicine published a Danish study that observed five hundred forty
people who had been adopted during infancy. The research found that adopted individuals had a much greater tendency to end up in the weight class of their biological parents rather than their adopted parents. Separate studies have proven that twins who were raised apart also reveal that genes have a strong influence on gaining weight or becoming overweight. There is a significant genetic predisposition to gaining weight. Still, that does not fully explain the epidemic of obesity seen in the United States over the past thirty years. Although an individual may have a genetic predisposition to become obese, environment plays a major role as well. I like the way author, speaker, and noted women s physician Pamela Peeke said it: Genetics may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. Many patients I see come into my office thinking they have inherited their fat genes, and therefore there is nothing they can do about it. After investigating a little, I usually find that they simply inherited their parents propensity for bad choices of foods, large portion sizes, and poor eating habits. If your child is over weight, he or she may have an increased number of fat cells, which means your child will have a tendency to gain weight if you choose to provide the wrong types of foods, large portion sizes, and allow him or her to be inactive. But you should also realize that most people can over ride their genetic makeup for obesity by making the correct dietary and lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, many parents forget that to make these healthy choices, it helps to surround a child with a healthy environment.
What I Liked: This is an attractive, full-color book with lots of helpful lists and tidbits. Perfect for a busy parent to read in spurts and bursts... It includes special sections on pregnancy, breastfeeding, baby, and toddler stages, as well as on special dietary needs.
I enjoyed the new information I found, as well as the wide variety of subjects covered. I found the delayed-vaccination recommendations interesting.
I felt a little discouraged at first while reading all the things I "should" be feeding my child and wondering how on earth I could get Esmé to eat most of them. I was a little relieved to read the sections on "What If My Child Doesn't Like Healthy Foods?" as well as the assurance that picky eating is common among little ones... I've now got a few ideas I'd like to implement!
What I Didn't Like: There were moments I felt a little frustrated over the ever-changing dietary advice we get. It always seems today's healthy food is tomorrow's poison, and vice versa. In our house, we don't eat a lot of dairy (which many studies support), but we do eat a fair amount of soy - while the book recommends the opposite. For the most part, I did find the book to be reasonably balanced, encouraging natural foods over processed and promoting exercise as a key factor in health.
Remember to leave a comment to enter the giveaway!
I’m recording the following for memory’s sake: the first riddle three-year-old Esmé took great delight in telling over and over…
Esmé: What flies but doesn’t have any wings?
Mom: You tell me.
Esmé: A kite!
Esmé: What flies and has wings?
Mom: A bird?
Esmé: That’s right!
Esmé: What flies and doesn’t have any wings?
Mom: A kite?
Esmé: Yes, and what else?
Mom: I don’t know.
Esmé: A flag!
Esmé: And even a helicopter!
There’s no end, I tell you. I am definitely cracking open the joke books so we can get a little variety going…
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We’ve been doing an overview of geography – maps, continents, that sort of thing – before we dive into studying specific countries. Today’s assignment was to draw a map. Here it is…
And here’s what Esmé has to say about it: “The continents. Arcantica, Bombay, Africa, and Australia. And October. And November. And December. The bedroom is in Australia. The yellow circles are stepping stones.”
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Esmé had her first authentic rock climbing experience this weekend. She had been talking big while watching others climb, telling us how she was going to get all the way to the top and hang out there for a little while, finding the “seven stones of Skulk Mountain.”
When it came time to go up, she insisted she could climb without the rope, though she did allow her Daddy to put on the harness and attach the rope anyway. She panicked when she realized the rope was holding her up – and got no further.
Analyzing things afterwards, I asked her why she didn’t trust the rope.
“It’s the wrong color!”
“What color would you trust?” I asked.
“Pink! Or red, or purple.”
Daddy just so happens to have a rope of the requisite color, so we’ll see how she does next time…
This week’s link up at The Homeschool Village is about fall spirit: 
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