Harvest Time: Week 1 Review

I should begin by explaining that our "week" begins on Wednesday.  I attend prenatal and homevisits on Mondays and Tuesdays with another local homebirth midwife.  The girls spend those two days with Ms. Erin, an amazing babysitter.  She usually takes them to either storytime at one of our branch libraries, one of the local parks or let's them get all painted up with our arts and craft supplies.  

So, we began our week on Wednesday morning with a big family snuggle fest at 6:30am.  I tried my best to convince the girls to cozy down and get a few more minutes of sleep but they wouldn't have it (Ugh. They never do!) Our morning routine generally includes some independent playtime while I prepare breakfast, we head upstairs to get ready for the day and then begin any "planned activities." 

This week we started off with some coloring time.  Sophia is really excited about learning her letters.  She already knows the alphabet (How that happened I don't know! It is amazing what they learn when you're not looking!).  She's especially excited about the flower fairies.

"A" is for Apple Blossom Flower Fairy

 Then we baked (and ate) bread for morning snack.  I'd like to say that we did the entire process by hand but the truth is that I am now the proud owner of a bread machine (thank you, Craigslist).  For a long time I was doing the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day...but it was never just five minutes and it never completely satisfied me.  (Geo loves and misses it though).   This is my attempt to continue to feed my family food that contains ingredients that I can (mostly) control and to fill our house with the smell of fresh bread. 

"Backpack, backpack!"

We spend time at the children's library.  I have to say that reading has always been a favorite pasttime in our house.  Both Geo and I are always juggling several things that we're reading and that love has very clearly been passed down to both the girls.  They prefer books over most things and we're so glad! 

It is actually Soph's love of reading that actually making us wonder if Waldorf school would really meet her needs and was the beginning step in this homeschooling adventure.  

 Bookworms!

Our Farmer's Market day began with some disappointment but ended happily! We arrived at the market at 9 to find out that they open at noon!  Yikes!  (Snoozing farmers?!?)  We packed up and headed to the closest library and the girls played made the best of the hours that we had to pass.  

We baked our salt dough veggies (beans, peas, potatoes, cauliflower, pumpkins and a fish....yes, a fish). We used book and produce that we brought home from the market as reference.  Madeline wasn't very entertained by this activity so I spend most of the time just chasing her around the kitchen and offering Soph verbal encouragement.

We also decorated the table for the season and spent some time playing "on the farm."  I'd like to get a special table for the girls to decorate for each season but I haven't found anything that works just yet.  It isn't the space so much as it is finding some place that Madeline won't deconstruct within 5 minutes.  So, for now, our kitchen table is our seasonal display.

Our meal blessing, some felted rocks, pipe cleaner flower bouquet and some seasonal veggies.

Everyone has a Ninja farmer, right??

The last two days of Week 1 were spend camping.  What better way to learn about the transition from summer to autumn than actually spending days and nights outdoors?  While camping doesn't always seem like a break for adults in the family, I really appreciate the change in scenery and am always reinforced when I see just how much the girls learn from getting smokey and dirty!

Soph was reminding Madeline that corn comes from the middle "just like in the book."