Storytime

This week's storytime was about different kinds of animals.  We heard stories about bunnies, a moose and a chipmunk, a cow, duck, pig, a goose and a dog, and others.  After listening to stories, the girls got to glue shapes onto paper.  Selena of course wanted all pink, and Abby wanted all blue... then they each did a second one, and did multi-colored ones too.  There were also balls to throw around and play catch with.  The girls love playing catch!!

Hansel and Gretel

Today we took the girls to see the Spokane Children's Theater production of Hansel and Gretel.  It was the first play that the girls have seen, and also the first time they have heard the story.  They really seemed to enjoy the acting, we got to participate and be the forest of trees that the kids get lost in.  All in all, the little actors (and big ones too) did a great job, and I think we'll have to mark our calendars for future performances.

At the beginning of the show, they invited all the kids with birthday in February, March and April to come up on stage.  So Selena got to go up, and she was excited (but also nervous, so I went with her). 

At intermission Abby got a flower painted on her cheek.

The set was beautiful and we all had a great time!

St. Patrick's Day Craft

Today (St. Patrick's Day) we made "stained glass" shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.  The girls loved doing them, and we are going to do Easter Eggs, and probably Flags and who know what else for any other holidays.  These were super easy, fun, and turned out beautiful.

Thanks to teach mama for the idea!
http://teachmama.com/2011/03/lucky-for-us-st-patricks-day-shamrocks.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+teachmama+%28teach+mama%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Lucky Leprechauns

St. Patrick's Day!
Today while the girls were at school, and I was "at work," a mischievous little leprechaun, that we'll call Seamus, visited our house.  Seamus wrote a little note for each of the girls near the door, and then made a mess of the house!  He gathered up all of the green toys and played with them in the living room!  The girls got to go on a scavenger hunt to see what all the surprises were that Seamus left for them.  The pictures will tell the story...

 

 The clue to RED was, Where do you do schoolwork?

 The clue to Orange was, A Green Tea Party!

 The clue to Yellow was, Where do You Mark the Day and the Weather?

 The clue to Green was, Princesses Love Green!

 

 Clue to Blue was, What is Your Favorite St. Patrick's Day Book?

 The clue for Purple was, Where do you Dream Your Dreams???

 IN BED!! The girls each got a pinwheel, spring time mask, and a fun board game. 

 The table that Mommy decorated. 

Distinguished Classified Employee~Otherwise Known as Grandma Judy

St. Patrick's Day!  What a fun day.  We had a very very busy day today.  We started out with sleeping in, which sounds like a good thing, but wasn't!  Grandma Judy was honored today by the Superintendent of the school district, as well as the head of the board of directors, and a representative from the sponsoring credit union. She was awarded the Distinguished Classified Employee honor. 
 The following is taken from the District webpage~
Judy Tuggle, instructional assistant, Title I program, Lidgerwood Elementary
During the 23 years she has worked at Lidgerwood as an instructional assistant, Judy has been a tireless advocate for students. She provides small group interventions for struggling students and helps English-language learners with reading after school. She is part of several school committees and helped create the PAWS (Pride and Willing Service) student leadership group. One nominator said she is “truly a joy to work with, is always professional and has a tremendous sense of humor and a smile that makes the staff room light up with excitement.” 
Congratulations Mom!  We've known for years just how special you are, and it's nice to see that others recognize you too!!!
(Pictures to follow...)

4-H Meeting and TEC

Wednesday, March 16th
Today I had a 4-H meeting for working with the parents, leaders, and kiddos for getting their 4-H Dahlia projects underway.  I love working with the families and can't wait to see how the project works out for the fair. 
I'm also always encouraged to visit with other homeschooling families!

On another note, last week, I visited the TEC (The Enrichment Cooperative).  I would go into great detail, but I'm not interested in the program, so I wont.  I'll leave it at this...
I'm choosing to homeschool, so I can make the decisions about what and when I teach things.  I would LOVE the opportunity to use the resources of the local school districts, but I'm not going to be roped into enrolling my children into an alternative program, and lose all the freedoms that I enjoy as a homeschooling family.  I will not check in with the school district with summaries of activities once a month.  I will not have a "certified" teacher tell me what I'm lacking in my day to day work.  We will surely miss out on the cooking classes and ballet, and the Jedi Training.. but we would miss out on our freedom more. 

Story Time - Sand! and Pat Hutchins

Story time (Tuesday March 15th) was all about Author Pat Hutchins.  We read a few new stories, and one story that we have at home, "Rosie's Walk."  This is a story that Grandma Judy gave us a copy of, and the girls really like reading all about Rosie's interesting walk.
After stories, they kids got to play with sand buckets, and had a great time.  It will be so nice when the weather gets a little warmer and we can go out to the sandbox again!