Woodrow for President

This is a fun introduction to a run for President. Woodrow for President: A Tail of Voting, Campaigns and Elections by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw Barnes (a local author team) covers it all from Woodrow's entry into politics to the Inaugural Ball. They have a whole series of political books for kids. Woodrow, the White House Mouse and House Mouse, Senate Mouse are two others Hannah and I have enjoyed.

An excerpt...

The nominee now has a very big task-
He must decide quickly which mouse he will ask
To be his vice president - number two "on the slate" -
The very best partner, the best "running mate."

Woodrow, his assistants and primary leaders agreed
One mouse from the primaries could surely succeed
As Woodrow's vice president - clearly, all knew it:
Senator Felicity Fieldmouse could do it!

The convention went wild! And by acclamation,
Every mouse on the floor, every state delegation
Voted that choice (they knew how to pick it) -
Senator Fieldmouse was now "on the ticket."

First Day of School

I love the first day of school. New school supplies. New teachers. Yellow buses circling the neighborhood. Everything is crisp and fresh and exciting. Honestly, I was a little sad we weren't a part of it all. So we made a big push to make Homeschool's first day an event...

I pulled out the "First Day of School" sign that Hannah has held the past two years and we all went out the front door, with backpacks on, like the kids were headed somewhere. Hannah cheerfully put on her backpack, wrote "Hooray Homeschool" on the dry erase board and skipped out the front door. She was thrilled. Will was confused. "Wait, where are we going? Why do I need my backpack?" It doesn't make sense, I know. Please just humor Mommy. This is all for the pictures. The kids marched around to the back door to enter school. And I greeted them as teacher.

The rest of the day seemed very much like any other day. We finished our lessons, read a lot, went to the park, played with kids on the street....

It was a good first day. We loved it!

*Peter's* new aquadoodle. Thanks Mema and Grandpa!

Preschool on the sidewalk. Peter's pal/fairy princess lives next door.

Sweet endings.

Our School Room

Our School Room is an interesting space. There are a lot of doors. Because this is the room you enter from the garage, it also functions as a mudroom of sorts. It's the first room you see when you come in the front door. And it's a walk through to the kitchen. So, I needed to keep a lot of open space for traffic patterns. Thankfully, we had the bookshelves built last year (several months before we ever considered homeschooling!). Who knew how perfect they would be for our homeschool? God! : )

The one window looks out to the backyard. It's perfect for keeping track of backyard play while I'm sitting here on the computer. The cabinets are full of puzzles, math manipulatives, files, and the printer.

The red cabinet is the "craft cabinet" - just full of the basics like crayons, glue, markers, and paper. All the serious supplies are in the basement cabinets. We love that map. I was going to have it framed this summer... waaaay to expensive. It's thumb tacked to the wall. That door is to the garage.

The secretary desk never functions as a desk, just a catch all. The door to the right of the secretary opens to the foyer. The door to the left of it opens to the kitchen. And through that door is the basement door. And the other door, next to the red cabinet, is the coat closet - full of shoes, bags, and coats soon enough. How's that for a tour of doors?

Boxes for the countless works of art created daily.

Hannah and Will have their own sections of the bookshelf.
Hannah on the left. Will on the right.

I think we're ready!
First grade and Pre-K start tomorrow at our house!

*** update 8.10.09 Darcy's Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop ***
We are lounging around the pool in Florida, so these are last year's photos.

*** update 8.13.10 ***
More updated photos can be found here.

Late Summer Evening

This is one of our favorite things to do as a family.
We start at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Then walk two blocks to the Cathedral.We turn a corner and there it is...
striking against the deep blue sky. We stay and play. And watch the light change as the sun goes down.

SteveSongs

This morning we took the kids to see Steve Roslonek/SteveSongs at Wolf Trap's Theatre-in-the-Woods. My kids love this guy. We stumbled upon one of his CDs, Marvelous Day, at our library, and now we're hooked. Clever and silly songs, being-a-good-friend songs, a few science ones... Water Cycle is one of my favorites. : )

We highly recommend Steve. And Theatre-in-the-Woods... magical setting for children's events.

Farewell to the Crib

Last night was Peter's first night in a big boy bed. He only got out twice in the middle of the night and is currently napping. So far, so good.

Early this morning, as I sat drinking my coffee and staring at this pile of crib in my living room, I started to get a little nostalgic. This crib has been a fixture in our home for almost 7 years. I remember shopping for this crib and bringing it into our apartment. Then there was the night we set it up for the first time and just sat and stared, hit with the fact that we were going to be parents. Somebody little would sleep in there. Then Hannah arrived. And I stood at the side of this crib obsessing over her breathing, maybe she's cold, this blanket is probably too much... all while she slept peacefully. Without a break, Hannah moved out and Will moved in and Will moved out and Peter moved in. It doesn't seem like Peter has been in there all that long....

The nostalgia passed. I am such a we're-done-with-it-get-rid-of-it type. So, it's off to Aunt Karen and Uncle Carl's house for them to fill with a little cousin.

Lemonade for Sale

Hannah has been wanting to have a Lemonade Stand for weeks.
This afternoon gave us perfect selling conditions. While Hannah and her friend Lacey we busy inside making "Lemonade for Sale" signs, Will needed an active activity. So I put him to work while we waited.

Open for business.

And with a message. $3.35 (and at .10 a glass - they got lots of tips) will go in the Disney World jar. We are planning to go for the first time this winter.
I think we are going to need more than one jar. : )