Mitten Strings for God - Chapter 7

I began this study back in 2008 when my children were much younger.  I never finished.  This morning I woke up very early and was looking for something to read.  I picked the book back up (it's been in my to read shelf all these years) and was reminded how much I loved it.  I also reread my old posts and was thrilled to read of our daily lives.  One day I will look back on my current days and will enjoy reminiscing like I did this morning.  

So lets see what I can do in 2017...

Chapter 7 in Mitten Strings for God is on Play.  

Play is much different in our home than it was in 2008.  

Our current favorite ways to play...

Artie - playing hearts with the men at Evans Training Center or basketball with the boys or ping pong with everyone

Kelly - watch a movie or reading a book

Currently Artie and I have been watching college basketball while the South Carolina Gamecocks made it to the Final Four for the first time in school history. 

Emily - playing with Chloe, shopping in stores and online, and hanging out with Lane

Stephen - video games and basketball

Bobby - running 

Terry - chatting with many friends on his phone, playing football or jumping on the trampoline

Looking back when I was their ages, my favorite play time was time spent with Artie.  Terry is just the age I was when Artie became my boyfriend (8th grade). We wrote notes and snuck around and talked on the telephone (which was attached to a chord and hanging on the wall!).  We went on so many dates - to the mall, the movies, out to dinner, to play putt putt.  Our funnest times were just hanging out at his mama's house cooking tacos with jalapenos and watching movies.  (this picture is probably 10th or 11th grade)

Katrina Kenison (the author) says "Children need time that is utterly their own." I believe that is true for all of us at any age.  Spring break begins here tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to having some free time that we just can't experience as much during the school year.  The neighborhood kids all come and play basketball and football.  Boyfriends and girlfriends will be in the mix of plans.  I'm looking forward to some spring time weather and meals.  It's time to wear flip flops and capri's.  It's a beautiful time to be alive!! 

Emily and Terry's Breakfast

This morning Emily is cooking more blueberry pancakes. Terry (6yo) wanted to help. Emily told him his job could be to get out all the ingredients. She laid the cookbook (cause she is my daughter and we have to have a recipe to boil an egg) out to the right page and Terry was on his way.

He started reading off each ingredient (I realize he learned to read in Kindergarten last year and has been reading to me a lot over the summer, but it still surprises me when he reads in real world places). He read off flour and wasn't sure where it was. Emily told him quickly to check the frig. I was married before I knew keeping the flour in the frig would keep out any little pesky bugs. He read off baking powder and didn't know what that was. I told him to just get the other things and Emily would get that in a minute. When he moved on to the salt he found a can in the hutch that said baking powder. He was so excited that he had read it and found it on his own. I can't believe how much the children are all growing up. I don't really think they need me here at all anymore (except maybe to referee for them). :-)

Sisters

Gaffney Art Show

Emily's basket weaving project was picked to be the the Art Show at the High School to represent Limestone Central - 3rd grade. She was very proud. Didn't it turn out cute?

Emily's 9th Birthday at school

Here are a couple of catch up pictures from Emily's birthday. She wanted to take cupcakes for her class' lunch. They were a mixed batch from Barbie and High School Musical to Nascar for the boys. Artie and I were planning on going and then it worked out where Brian was able to go as well. All the little girls were saying "he's so cute!!"

Emily's School Program

Here are some of my catch-up photos. This is Emily's school's patriotic program. Emily is on the top row in the middle in a blue shirt. It's kinda hard to see her, but here is a close up.

Here is Emily and her daddy. What a cute date he makes!! He rushed in from Charlotte to be there for her.

The Littles coming home from school

Emily

Bobby and Terry

Terry and StephenElmo begins barking as soon as he hears the bus rolling down the road. He can hear them way before I can. They are always so excited when they run in the door. School is a great place to them and they are learning so much!!

This is the way Dollie spends her time while Emily is at school - propped up reading a book waiting on Emily to return.

Terry's kindergarten nap towel

High School Musical 3

We're going to the premier tonight!!! Whoo Hoo :-) Anyone else going? This will be Emily's first big movie at the theater (she's seen some daytime summer specials like Veggie Tales - but not night time movie with just the girls). She loved the first two on TV.

My first big movie I remember seeing with my mama and some friends was Rocky. She was so worried because she had been told about them cutting his eye in the ring. If she saw what was on television now and how the TV show cameras are always diving into dead bodies!!!

(BTW - I let the children watch Rocky 1 over the summer and couldn't believe the language it in!!!) Anyway, hopefully HM will be a little more child friendly than Rocky was.

Congratulations Emily

Yeah!!! Emily got Terrific Kid at school today. Stephen got it yesterday. A good week for our kids huh? Bobby was home sick yesterday, so I didn't get to see Stephen get his award, but I was able to see Emily's today. Mrs. Wells talked about what a good girl she was - never having to be called down, always working hard and trying her best!! Where some of children seem to just get school with out much effort, Emily works very hard. I'm very proud of all the children. They are all doing so well in school.

Emily's Day

All the little children wanted to tell a little bit about their first day at school. Emily's first...

First thing - did a word search

Breakfast - chocolate milk (didn't want to eat the muffin - maybe a little too excited?)

Math - worked on multiplication

Social Studies - (South Carolina history this year) - learned about the SC flag

Recess - played on the swings

Big deal - got to wash her hands in the classroom - didn't even have to go in the bathroom! :-)

Lunch - chicken nuggets, juice bar, chocolate milk

Art

Practiced leaving~~

Favorite part of the day - new teacher - Mrs. Wells

Emily at swimming lessons

Emily - getting ready for swimming lessons
So cute

First time across the whole pool.

Learning to put her face in the water

Emily's New Doll

Here is Emily's new doll. We were watching the Waltons one day - Emily and I taking notes on how the women acted - me mostly focusing on Livie and Grandma - and Emily studying Elizabeth.

One thing we noticed was how well Elizabeth took care of her doll. Then we compared how Emily's dolls were scattered over the floor in her room and through her toy box, not being loved at all.

We decided that Emily just had too many baby dolls to care for. We gathered up all her babies and gave them to to Goodwill and then Emily got to go shopping and pick out a new baby ~ ONE new baby ~ to love and care for.

This is the doll, her name seems to change often - so far she has been Olivia, Dolly, Elizabeth, Emily, Gracie.

Today she is known as Emily's doll~~ :-)

Currently she is resting lovingly on Emily's bed. She has been all over town with us - to the grocery store, Wal-Mart, the gas station. She was even allowed to go to Charleston with us (I hope to post on that trip soon). Emily rocks her, talks with her, washes her clothes ~ the first day Emily had to feed her before she could even get out of bed. In the picture, she was on her way to church. She stays in the car during our time inside.

It was a good move for Emily ~ she has had hours of fun with her new friend and has taken much better care of her than she did of her piles of dolls before. Maybe next we can work through her stuffed animals??? :-)

Carolina Wrens

Easter afternoon during our Easter egg hunt, the children found a bird's nest in our old grill. Daily the kids would peek in and see how the baby birds were doing. There were five.


One day it looked as if the babies were dying. We kept a watch out and the mama bird didn't come back. We weren't sure what had happened to her and looked up online what to do with abandoned birds. It said to feed them bread soaked in sugar water. So, every 2-3 hours Brenda and Emily fed the tiny birds and they seemed to come back around. Three died, but 2 thrived.


They loved when the girls feed them. Finally they were up strong enough to begin learning how to flap around.
This little birdie flew from Brenda's hand up to her shirt. SCARED BRENDA TO DEATH!! :-) (the ugly scratch on Brenda's face was from her doggie - Elmo - it looks much better now!)
Emily even held one of them.

Here they are up close.

After days of no birdie mama, the mama (below) reappeared (or another mama adopted them?? does that happen?) She began coming and feeding them for the afternoon and then they all flew off by nightfall.

The girls had so much fun with them all. It was sweet of God to help them save 2 of the 5 and allow the girls to learn even more about the Carolina Wrens. (Emily's bird from last semester in school)

Moses the Kitten

Here is a wonderful living book for Nature Study. (I think Charlotte Mason would love this one!!) Emily is just beginning reading the James Herriott's books (the stories from the Treasury series - our library has each story as it's own book - but not the whole treasury). Moses the Kitten was the first in her readings. It's a lovely and warm book - with lots of good farm knowledge and beautiful pictures passed on.

Peter Pan

Peter and Wendy

Since Emily finished her free reading book - Charlotte's Web - today we started a new one - Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

Here's a paragraph I loved in our reading...

"Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see her on her knees, I expect, lingering humorously over some of your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and hurriedly stowing that out of sight. When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind; and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on."

Makes me miss my mama.... :-) Things were always put just so for me when she was alive... she was definitely one of those mama's who made everything right and good.

WWJD

Today Emily started her first devotional book. We are reading What Would Jesus Do by Helen Haidle. It is based on the classic book In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon. The actual book she is reading is older than she is. Artie and I gave it to Brian and Troy in 1997 for Christmas; back when we lived in a trailer in Spartanburg - our first real home of our own.

I hope Emily enjoys it and learns how look at life's situations and respond as Jesus would.

Emily

Emily and I went to the yellow mall Friday afternoon to get her hair cut. When we got there, Jack Ropper from News Channel 7 was outside with a big Locks of Love canopy overhead.

When we got in, we asked about the requirements and found out that Emily had just enough (6 inches) to donate. She had never heard of Locks of Love before, so it was a pleasant new thought to her that she could help another little girl who had lost her hair while she was sick. So, Emily looks cute with her short new bob. When my camera is cooperating again, I'll try and get a picture.